Nothing Attached
by dong-chun-mei
Summary: Julia's dating habbits aren't up to company regulation! So she seeks out Kai Hiwatari to be her escort till things blow over. The problem? They start to fall in love, and Julia gets scared. [AU LEMONS KaiJulia] [MINOR TyHil RayMariah MaxMariam DaichiMing]
1. A Proposition

Rose: YAY new story

Rina: Based on my fave book "No Strings Attached"

Rose: It's a romance! Major Kai/Julia with lemony goodness to come! Other Pairings Implied

Rina: DUH! Again no spell check, I don't own beyblade and 'No Strings Attached' belongs to Alison Kent. And if you feel like flaming, let me get a hoze first...

* * *

Julia Fernandez stepped inside the Doorway of Breakerz' Half Time, cringing at the confounded blast of noise. What was it about team spots that turned civilized people into a loutish milieu, complete with the roars, growls, honks and snorts of a teeming jungle habitat?

The primitive racket ricocheting off the sports bar's walls had her longing for ear plungs or cotton balls. Either would do, as long as she had **SOMETHING** to dull this damned noise! And she'd trade eight of her best bras for a can of air freshener right now!

Fanning at a plume of cigar smoke with one hand, squinting into the gaudy neon glare, Julia searched the crowd for a pair of shoulders worthy of Tarzan. If Kai Hiwatari wasn't here, she was going to kill him. She's never met a man with such nerve! Refusing to return her phone calls, forcing her to resort to this stupid extreme... she was ready to cut off his balls for this one.

It was July, a gorgeous, Saturday afternoon... So what if it was -as spelled out of the parking lot marguee- the NHL season Opener, and Breakerz' Half Time was an NHL's hot spot? She had better things to do with her time than dodge rabid fans, and certainly better places to put her feet than a floor littered with cork beer coasters and whatever sticky stuff was gumming up the soles of her fifty dollar NIKEs. What in the world drew people to this place? Julia gave an arrected shudder and blew out a loud puff of wind.

_Men... They can be such children when it comes to Hockey... _She thought, even as a feminine shriek of excitement cut through the dim lighting as Philly scored their first goal.

Okay... So this place was coed...

The women where one thing, standing by their men, rooting for his team or often one they loved themselves. And, yes... there were women out there who came to Breakerz' Half Time for no other reason than the love of Hockey... Those women didn't factor into Julia's aversion of athletic fanaticism.

The women didn't stir up memories of being sidelined for no other reason than being a girl... a girl who would've gladly given up her secret stash of hockey trading cards for the chance to strap of a helmet and join in a game with her brothers...

The women didn't bring back memories of those damned dresses she hated so much, or the cold metal bleachers where she'd sat so lovely at her father's side... Daddy's littler girl... there only to watch her brother compete, never to herself...

The women didn't leave her heart hopelessly hollow... no... that was left for the clueless males of the species who -in Julia's books- preferred their women in the kitchen, between the sheets, or three steps beind. The brunette shook her head, ridding herself of her thoughts. The whole concept of love was going to hell in a handbasket!

"Hey sexy babe, wanna beer?' A slurred voice cooed from behind her.

Julia sighed and gazed lazily to her left. An ex-jock eh? Nothing but muscles gone to fat and drunk to boot... He smirked at three of his buddies at a nearby table. 'Pass.' She answered sharply.

'Pass? On a beer?? The hows 'bout I give ya the best night o' yer life?'

_Puh-leez!_ 'Not interested...'

'C'mon Babe!' He leered his way down the front of her new jersey. 'If I could see ya naked, I'd die a happy man.'

She quirked one slender brow. 'Really?' She reached out and poked his beer belly. 'If I saw you naked, I'd die laughing.'

The Ex-jock's mouth dropped as whoops and sympathetic groans errupted from his friends. She turned her back on them and went in search of some breathing room. Men... All so predictable. At the first sight of breasts, they turn into boobs... no pun intended. Keeping an eye out for the bluenette she was searching for, she moved away from the common room back towards the entryway, and searched the bar from that point.

What the world needed was another Cary Grant, a real ladies man and a true romantic... Julia may only be nineteen, but she'd spent years devouring the favourite movies of her long dead mother... the one she'd never had the chance to know... She couldn't help but wonder if her mother had been compelled by the romantic movies' image that man repersented... The one she'd never experienced?

Was that why her mother so adored romance classics? Or has she simply been a film buff? One that watched for no other reason than the love of a great story? How Julia wished she could ask... and listen...

She longed to learn the truth about the relationship her mother had shared with her father. The very man who'd enshrined her memory and held her up as an example of the type of woman Julia should be, but would never come close to... no matter how much she tried. Maybe if she understood what made her parents' marriage such a heavenly success, she could duplicate it... Relationships was something she'd never been good at. It was all restless sex for her and no attachment.

Sex Julia knew about. Sex was easy. Sex was power. It was that crazy little thing called love that got her so damned confused...

'Hey sweet thang! What's your name?'

Julia turned to face her newest accoster. He looked like a toad... That was putting it nicely. 'Ice Princess.' She retorted coldly.

He only laughed and moved closer. 'So what you do for a living? Besides playing hard to get that is...'

She smirked smoothly. 'I'm a female impersonator.'

Before he could respond, she brushed him away, leaving the bar's entryway and walked briskly towards the restrooms. Men... all duds and bores... her patience with them had grown paper thin already. Where in the hell was Hiwatari?!

She entered the door marked **Jills**, stumbling over a drunk coming from the one marked **Johns**. Nodding at a short blonde, Julia proceeded to splash water on her face. What in the hell was she doing here tonight? What did she hope to accomplish really? What was she thinking? She was looking for some damned man when she had five amazing girlfriend she could count on anytime, night or day? They understood her better than any man ever would. Who needed men anyway??

Sighing, Julia left the bathroom and headed to the one place she hadn't looked for Kai yet. Biting her lip, Julia wove her way through the common room and up three short steps onto the glossy hardwood floor of the bar's more... intimate pub. Fortunately for Kai, she knew she'd find him here. The black Ford Mustang GT with the plates the read HALF TIME in the back where hard to miss, and definately his. It was a hot-shot car, an extension of his male ego... his large, excessive male ego.

With proof of his whereabouts, and a firm resolve, she wan't about to let him blow her off in person like he had her phone calls. She wasn't going to be deterred from her mission. She needed a man, and only Kai Hiwatari would do. He was as close to perfect as she was going to get, and she could deal with his attatude! She had before, while paired with him for a month-long scavenger hunt designed by one of Julia's best friends, and buisness partner, gAL-gEAR editor Mariah Wong, for her monthly gAL-gAMES column.

She caught sight of her victim behind the bar, as Kai sidestepped behind one of his own best friends, Ray, to pass a man his order. A smile touched Julia's mouth, during the month they'd spent on the scavenger hunt, they'd shared dinners, drinks, dirty jokes, and one fucking hot kiss that made her wet just thinking about it. Taking a deep breath, she headed to the bar.

Kai turned then, walking towards her. His own grey jersey hugged him snuggly around his braud shoulders. The man's body was a piece of work, hard and fit. Propping herself on a stool, she studied him. He really was drool-worthy with that butt, and that white-teethed smile she'd only seen once before, when they'd both gotten drunk and she'd tickled the living daylight out of him. Damn he was hot with a capital H and he had dimples in both cheeks! He'd trimmed his unruly two-toned blue hair just a bit, to give him that bad boy edge the ladies all loved. And then there was those deep crimson eyes and...

'What?' He shapped, knocking Julia from her sudden fantasy of seening him in a Tarzan styled lioncloth...

Julia smiled sweetly, trying to remember her extremely whitty opening. Having forgotten everything she was going to say now that he was here and so close. She ended up holding both arms out to the side and swiveled back and fourth on the stool. 'You like my outfit?'

'No.'

Be damned if he'd say a word about her cross-trainers, or her black jersey. It was the hottest thing going right now... according to the salesclerk who'd watched, tounge lolling, while Julia had shimmied the jersey down over her body and let it hug her hips in the middle of the store earlier that very day. She stamped her foot in frustration, waiting for him to put her phone calls he'd avoided together with her laughably out of character ensemble. It didn't take him long to do the math.

He backed up a short step, yanking the blue towel printed with a red Breakerz' 'B' from his shoulder, and whiped his tanned hands. 'No.' He glared.

She knew this wouldn't be easy, but she hadn't counted on a dead end so soon. 'How can you tell me no when you don't know the question?'

'No.' He repeated, shaking his head.

'I'm crushed.' She pouted, trying her hardest to look let down.

'I have customers waiting.'

He was blowing her off? Just like that? 'I'm sitting here, at your bar, so serve me.'

The towel went back to his shoulder. His expression never changing from its usual, stonic stare. 'What do you want?'

This wasn't going as she planned, but she had only herself to blame. He'd spent a month in her company, no ammount of acting would make him forget her tendance to be aggressive at times, assertive at others, or her potty mouth which was right below her bad girl rep she needed Kai to save. She couldn't afford not to play this game his way. 'What's good here?'

'Ray, cosmopolitan.' He called over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving her emerald ones. This was it, no way was he getting involved in her proactive, career-saving plan. But Kai was such a big part of the plan, she took a small sip from the drink when the black-haired neko-jin braught it over, and smiled as a peace offering.

Kai had been standing back, waiting. Ray winked at him as he moved by to get another order, recieving a glared from Kai as he did. Turing his attention back to the dangerious brunette, he watched her take another sip from the drink he knew all to well she hated and something snapped. He pulled the glass roughly from her hand. 'What are you up to?'

She shatched the drink back. 'Wow, five words in one sentence. That's a record.' She retorted, sipping from the horrible tasting drink again.

'You're up to something.'

'I _am_ female.'

'Exactly.'

'You know me Kai. If you agree to my plan, I'm not going to leave you out in the cold.' She smirked again, downing the rest of her fowel drink in one great swig. It took everything she had not to make a face at the terrible taste lingering on her tongue. 'Or did you forget that tequila kiss that heated you up plenty, if I recall correctly.'

He held his thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart. 'We were this far from drunk.'

'Just think what might of happened of we were rip-roaring.' She commented, sitting the empty glass on the counter. Her mouth burned with the after taste.

'No.' Kai was back to rearranging the bar. There were times Julia was sure he was simply toying with here. But the responce she's recieve from a certain part of him during that kiss assured her otherwize.

'Ray!' She called, suddenly thinking about leaving. Surely she had no face left to loose. 'Can you bring me a bottle of water?'

Hands shoulde-width apart on the bar, Kai hung his head. 'Don't do this...'

'Do what?' She asked, she really wanted to know why he was so set against her plan.

'...Pretend you want something from me you can get from any other man.' His head came up sharply then, and he gestured beyong her at the men drinking it up. 'Go ask them.'

'No.' She stated stubbornly. 'I want you, and I know you want me. Don't deny it.' Ray arrived with her bottle. Julia thanked him and opened it up and downed it, trying to get rid of the cosmopolitan's nasty after taste. Ray stopped long enough to whisper in Kai's ear. 'Julia's slamming. Don't push her away too.'

Kai snorted and shook his head. He waited until Ray was busy then leaned forward until his temple hit hers. 'I deny nothing.'

'Blame Mariah.' She whispered, her eyes locked with his. 'Her scavenger hunt ended up having repercussions I don't think she's ever dreamed of, and not just you and me. Hilary split from Tyson.'

He stood back. 'I know.'

She studied him as he went to tend to another patron. She'd grown up the only female in a household of five males... not counting her father. Kai Hiwatari could do his best to wear her down, but there wasn't a question in her mind she would win the battle of wills. He's admitted to him wanting her already. All she had to do was keep from revealing too much too soon.

Because he was so entertaining, she drove a final nail into his coffin. 'Who's winning?'

He raised a prow, his attention back on her.

'Without looking, who's winning the game?'

He finished filling the patron's glass, then slammed his towel down on the counter. 'You have my attention. Happy?'

'I'd be be happier if you heard me out.' She played with the tip of her water bottle and smiled up at him seductively. He stayed immobile, which told her he was waiting for her to continue. 'I don't really have anything you need. But you have something that would really help me out...'

'A favour?' It was more a conclusion than a question. Wearily, he rubbed a hand down his handsome face.

'It's about work... and my reputation for savouring a good expletive.'

'You mouth got you in trouble again... didn't it?' Ray snickered. The pair glared at him. 'What? It's not my fault you talk loud!'

'Anyway...' She continued. 'My mouth isn't the biggest part of it... it's perfectly acceptable when it's partners-only situation, like when we're having late night meeting at gAL-gEAR Corp., or when we do our thing at Mariah's loft... Make that Hilary's loft, since 'Riah is in throes of cozy bliss with you're ease-dropping friend Ray over there. It's when I... forget myself at that office that Judy gets bent out of Shape.'

'Judy Tate?' He repeated in disblief.

'Yeah, yeah, I know. You can't imagine Judy getting bent out of shape over anything, but she takes buisness very seriously. That encludes how each of the partners' actions and reputations reflect back on gAL-gEAR. It's not just my language... but my dating habbits...'

'You mean the men you go through like bras?' Ray retorted. Kai glared daggers at him. The neko-jin chuckled nervously, sidestepping as he did. 'I'll just go over here.' He finished off, pointing towards the opposite end of the bar.

'As I was saying... my dating habbits aren't up to... company regulations. I need a man I'm compatible with to help me out. Someone I can trust...'

Kai raise a brow. 'Me?'

'We've spent a month digging through each other's baggage and we're still talking... that has to be a good sign! I need your help!'

'And?'

'I need an escort.' She stated flat out, hoping the shock value would knock him off balance and into capitulation.

'So?'

'I want you to be my escort!'

He stared at her unmoving, his face still unchanging. Damn he was hard to read. The first unconfortable twinges of failure stung the most. She wasn't sure any longer. Not with him looking at her like he was. She reached for her wallet, intending to pay for the cosmopolitan and water. Men... never again... Her mind screamed. How stupid could she be, thinking she could get Kai Hiwatari of all men to help her out. She was such a fool, even after all these years. She stood up in a furry and slammed the money onto the table.

His hand on hers stopped her from paying, and leaving. The pressure was rough and tight. A jolt of electricity shot up her arm and into her back. Her eyes shot to his, only to find their dark crimson depth burning with desire. Three words fell from his clenched mouth and she knew she was well on her way to accomplishing what she'd set out to get. 'My office... Now.'

* * *

Well there you have it... My first story in a while...

Hopefully this time, I'll finish it. -

Pairings: All my main faves I can fit in (Check my profile for fave beyblading pairs)

please be kind and review I world hard for 3 and a half hours on this!

For **Mikaera** cause she seems to miss my stories so much! I love you onee-chan!

Dong-Chun-Mei...


	2. Hook, Line, and Sunk?

Rose: Chapter two already??

Rina: What can I say, ideas are poring out of me for this story!

Rose: Thank me for that!

Rina: I don't own beyblade or 'No Strings Attached' though I wish I did! Again no spellcheck, but I do my best. If you feel like flaming waiting until I get a hoze.

* * *

Kai guided his unexpected visitor across the bar's common room, past the swinging doors leading to the kitchen, and into a short hallway toward a door boldly marked: **No Admittance **Julia raised a brow, glancing from the sign to the blunette standing slightly behind her. He simply rolled his eyes and pressed his hand against the small of her back, forcing her forward, into the room.

Julia's back was really small. The firey brunette may have a big mouth on her, and an attaitude to match, but she was a curvy little thing. It made it hard for him to stay foccussed on the situation at hand.

One thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't going to say yes to whatever cockamamie scheme she'd come here to pitch. If she didn't want him for more than her own self-serving reasons, then screw her. She could handle her little _problem_ at work the best way she knew how... on her own!

Julia may have thought she'd come away from their scavenger-hunt month holding the upper hand, but he'd done his share of scouting, and he knew a thing or two about Julia Fernandez he doubted she knew about herself.

As tough as she seemed, she was appealingly vulnerable. He didn't know why she protected herself with her big bad attitude, but if it made her feel safer, he'd play along... At least until he learned more about what had braught her here, to _his_ bar. He knew damned well she didn't show up out of the blue, looking like a cross between a super model and a soccer mom, without a damn good reason. A better one than needing an escort at least!

His office decor reflected the rest of the bar, which meant Julia would be just as uncomfortable in here as she had been out there. As he watched her take in the long wall covered with pictures of anyone that had been inprotant to him in his twenty years of life, he caught himself wondering what she's look like having worked up a good sweat. He couldn't even imagine, having never seen her with a single two-toned brown strand of hair out of place... unless tousled on purpose for the sake of being sexy, like it was now. He'd seen rational men turned into blubbering idiots by that bedroom hair and those big, emerald-coloured eyes.

Kai chuchled lowly to himself suddenly loving the idea of messing up her hair, and making her scream for him. He also loved the way she looked in that jersey... the way it clung to her hips, catching every curve she had. He shook his head, bringing that train of thought to a quick halt. If she knew how much of an affect she had on him, she'd never let him live it down.

He moved to lean back against the huge wooden desk he'd purchased at a charity event, crossed his arms over his muscular chest and waited. He didn't have a lot of time, Ray would be needing backup soon. But Kai had a feeling that whatever he was waiting for would be worth weathering a rebellion in the ranks.

'Ray Kon, Mariah Wong, Max Tate, (your friends with my boss' son?), Mariam Talbot, Tyson Granger, Tala Ivanno, Monica Moses, Daichi Sumeragi, MingMing Pellow...' Julia named off all the people from his past and present she knew, stopping when she reached one frame set off from the others. She gave Kai the look most gave him when they came across that one. 'Hilary Tatibana?'

Kai lifted a shoulder. 'My ex...'

Julia's only reply was a loud huff. He watched her move cautiously around the office, enjoying the way the demin cupped her backside, they way the jersey molded to her shoulders. Either she'd pumped a lot of iron over the past few months, or he's been as blind as a bat the few times he'd had his hands on her... Especially that time she'd blakmailed him into dancing with her at Hilary and Tyson's housewarming party... the dance that lead to that damned kiss...

Catching him in his intent study of her rear view, Julia suddenly turned and flopped down on his office couch. Middle fingers rubbing at her temple, she closed her eyes and leanred back. 'I really don't know what I'm doing here...'

She simply cocked his head to the side. 'Talk.'

Julia took a deep breath and scooted forward to sit primly on the edge of the couch. 'Here's the thing. I love my career. I really do. I can't think of anything that would make me as happy as I am at gAL-gEAR. I don't want to loose it, I'll do anything not to loose it. I'm not in danger of getting laid off... Jusy would never let the company get that desperate. But she's told me straight up... she's tired of my... habit of dating everyone who asks...'

'And?'

Julia got to her feet, paced to the opposite end of the couch, then back, working her hands as she talked. 'Over the next few months, gAL-gEAR is scheduled to be profiled in several international publications. Judy has her eye on the major big time. She's courting designers, and talked about taking the company public. Which means, we're all living under a magnifying glass. We've been ordered to clean up our acts... especially me. If I bring any bad publisicity to the company now, Judy will blow her top! And then... there's Em.'

Kai quirked a brow. 'Em?'

'A buyer at work. Her name's Emily Tompson. She'd sell her soul to get my job.'

He remained unfazed...

'I have three functions coming up over the next couple of months.' Julia continued. 'Offical buisness functions. I can't get out of any of them and I'll be representing gAL-gEAR while I'm there...'

Now that he knew where this was going, be damned if he was going to fall for anything she was about to offer. 'No.'

'I'm not finished!' She cried, turned on him quickly. 'I need you to be my escort for the publications!'

'Go alone.' Her eyebrown twitched... He knew he was getting to her, and it was amuzing.

'You're not a woman you can't understand! I can't go alone. I have to have a date, and the only date I want is you!'

'Why?'

That did it, she snapped. 'Cause you fucking hot!' She blurted out, clamping her hands over her mouth the moment the words left her lips. _Oh Shit..._

It was Kai's turn to rub his temple now, as he faught down a blush. Her own face was bright red.

Threads of common sense were unraveling all over the floor. She stepped forward and wrapped her delicate fingers around his forearm. 'Please help me...'

The imprint of her touch remained on his arm long after he'd pushed away from his desk, away from her. 'Kai...'

He sighed, knowing he would regret this. 'Make me a deal.'

She was infront of him now, suddenly, one hundred and twenty bounds of newly formed enthusiasm. 'Anything... as long as it isn't sexual.'

'A double-standard?'

'We have a great friendship, do you honestly want to ruin it with mind banging sex?' The look he gave her made her squirm, but her tongue remained sharp. 'Do you want me that badly?'

He wasn't about to admit what the picture of her tousled hair and quick tongue was doing for his imagination. Just get her out of her shoes and shorts and, yeah, he could Julia Fernandez in his head, wearing nothing but her socks and that jersey hanging over her thights and curvy, bare ass.

'I'll do you three nonsexual favours in return for three dates.' She continued, suddenly aware of the little space between them. 'Do you have a deal?'

He smirked at the though of what he had planned on his calendar before the end of the month. This was going to be amuzing. 'Deal.'

'What's got you so fucking amuzed?' She snapped, suddenly sound like the old Julia he knew and... definately didn't love.

'You'll see.' And with that, he left her standing in his office alone.

* * *

Settled into the seat of her exercise bike, Julia wished her legs were longer so she could give herself a good kick in the ass. Instead, she pedaled harder, faster, until her legs screamed in agony. She relased the bike's handlebar just long enough to swipe a towel over her forehead.

Damn the cocky Kai Hiwatari. The guy never said more than a handful of words at once, and still managed to make her look like a fool.

All men were rules by their dicks, every one of them. Kai Hiwatari was no damned exception. Sure she was brunette, she was built, she was sexy, she enjoyed dating, and she had a brain, so why in the hell didn't she use it yesterday??

Because she loved her job. She loved gAL-gEAR, her vice-presidential perks and position, the cyclical industry of fashion and her partners, the five women who'd been her best friends since their days in diapers.

Hell, she ven had a soft spot for Em, though the other woman's ambition irriataed Julia more than a broken underwire on a brand-new bra. Em needed the air released from her inflated self-opinion. She might have 67 IQ points on Julia, but Julia had the heart Ms. Emily Tompson was missing.

The ringing of the phone in her bedroom slowed Julia's pace, but she didn't stop pedaling until the machine picked up and she heard Kai Hiwatari's voice. 'Breakerz', saturday morning nine am. Wear the jersey, don't be late.'

The line went dead, then came the dial tone and Julia's disbelief. That was it? Orders on an answering machine? Like hell she was going to follow those... And what's up with the dress code? He knew she wouldn't wear that damn thing again on a dare. She certainly wouldn't wear it because he demanded she did. Or would she? After all, the three favours in return were her idea.

Suddenly have enough of the bike, she lept from it and bounded to the bathroom, throwing blue Lycra and spandex as she went. Once the hot water started melting her balled up muscles, she was able to think more clearly.

Other than removing sex from the equation, she hadn't set any boundaries for this granting-of-the-three-wishes buisness. She supposed it was a fair enough trade off.

Kai knew he'd be accompanying her to gAL-gEAR buisness affairs. She knew she'd be doing snything Kai wanted her to... except crawling naked into his bed that was.

Julia sighed... why was that one boundary suddenly so disappointing?

* * *

DA-DA-DA

SECOND CHAPTER ALREADY!!!!!

I'm home sick from school today, so I typed it up.

This chapter is for Iluvbeyblade because she's just so awesome... and a fellow YTV member XD

Enjoy and Review...pwease?

Dong-Chun-Mei


	3. Getting There

Rose: Chapter three!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

Rina: Okay! Who gave my muse a hyper pill??

Rose: Rina doesn't own Beyblade or No Strings Attached, the story in which this fanfiction is based.

Rina: Nor do I have a spell check but I do my best and if you wanna flame, wait until I'm out of the house...

* * *

Having arrived at Breakerz' only minutes before Julia, Kai leaned against the back end of his car, legs crossed at the ankle, arms crossed over his chest, and watched her pull her blood-red VW Beetle in to the parking lot. If he was a betting man, he wouldn't take better than fifty-five odds that she'd worn the outfit he'd wanted her to wear... Still, she was here, and that was saying something in itself.

He continued to watch as she jerked her sunglasses from her face, the keys from the ignition. With a look somewhere between a frown and a glare, she climbed from the car, her emerald eyes never breaking from his. 'I'm here. Happy?' She snarled, definately not a morning person.

A ghost of a smirk played across his lips, because seeing her in that jersey had just become the highlight of his day. Pushing himself off his car, he headed for the passenger door. She watched him move, tucking her shades and car keys into her new knapsack as she did. He opened the car door, and stood with both wrists draped over the frame. Julia slug her knapsack over her shoulder and waited, feet unmoving and eyes cutting from Kai's to the Mustang and back again. 'I take it you want me to get in?'

'Yes.'

'Do you mind telling me where we're going? Or what we're going to do? And, most of all, why you wanted me to wear this ridiculous getup yet again?'

Ah yes... the Julia he still didn't love... but was starting to respect to keep her word... 'Get in.'

'Oh yes master. Right away master.' She snarked, but did slide down into the car's bucket seat. 'Julia is only here to serve you master.'

Kai ignored her comments, closed the door behind her and skirted the rear of the car, slapping his hand on the trunk on his way to the driver's side. Talk about you bad mood... He found it amazing Julia could really be that worried about her position at gAL-gEAR, worried enough to bite his head off when he was the one she'd come to for help. She'd been one of the original girls. To him, that made her irreplaceable, and he knew for a fact Judy Tate thought the same way. No... There was something else going on here. But Kai wasn't going to ask her what it was... yet.

He slid into the driver's seat, slammed the door, and turned over the two-hundread-sixty horses beneath the Mustang's hood. He shoved the five speed into reverse and whipped the car around, squealing his tires out of the parking lot and onto the westbound Drive. Julia gave him a sideays glance. 'Is the length of the skid mark a guy lays on the pavement in direct proportion to his opinion of himself?'

'No.' Kai answered, briefly thinking he wouldn't be able to afford retreads if that were the case.

'Typical man...' She muttered bitterly, digging for her sunglasses.

Kai downshifted for the trafic light half a block ahead. _Women..._

'You treat your damn car better than me.' She hissed suddenly.

He was curious now. 'How so?'

'You _pattened_ the damn thing before you got in.' She retorted, looking straight out the windshield. 'I don't even get an answer as to where you're taking me. I'd rather be a million other places than here with you right now, like bed. Why in the hell don't you just take me back to Breakerz'?'

Kai didn't hesitate to whip the car in a U-turn and head back to his bar. He wanted her company, the company she usually offered, or had offered before she'd hit this personal downhill slide, not this. No way in hell was he putting up with a sassy bubblegum princesss that couldn't handle getting up before nine...

But damn, she was smart and she was funny. Her sharp tongue could slice a man into shreds. Her eyes could throw daggers at any part of him left standing. Her mouth could grind the fallen pieces into the ground and man... could she kiss... She was driven by determination, by passion, but passion was the mother of a two-edged sword, and didn't help to dull the rage now burning in his chest.

He shot up into the Breakerz' parking lot, coming to an amazingly tender stop considering how pissed off he felt right now.

Julia reached for the door handle. Kai's hand engulfed her wrist, stopping her from leaving. 'What?'

'Our deal.'

'I don't care anymore, I'm not going to the open house tomorrow.' She murmured, her attention more on his burning grasp of her wrist than their conversation.

'You're bailing.'

'I haven't bailed yet! I'm just wondering if any of this effort will make the slightest difference...' She shook her head, jerking her hand from his hold. 'Just forget it. Chalk it up to a crappy Friday night.'

'Bad date?'

She glanced over at him with one slender brow arched. 'Nope... for once I spent a Friday night alone, at home. A girl can get kind of sick of the same dinner, movie and back to the bedroom date offer after a while...'

Kai shifted in his seat and did his best to face her. No wonder she went through men like he did running shoes. Was that the height of her dating expectations? 'Ready to go?'

She studied him for a moment, frowning slightly, her eyes that amazing shade of emerald. Her lashes were long and played havoc on his imagination. The same inagination that was making hard work of the lower half of his body. She was strong and beautiful... like the bunches of wildflowers popping up all over the field at Revolution Park where they'd been headed until Julia got a bad-mood burr up her butt.

It probably wasn't fair of him to hijack her this way, but she'd agreed to the terms of the deal, and he was looking forward to seeing her sweat. It would do him good as well to see her get all huffy and insulted at having to play ball. He needed the reminder that they would never get along as a couple. She stirred his blood wildly without even trying, a reaction that was dangerious for both of them.

He couldn't go for a woman who couldn't understand his passion for getting out and physical. The ones who shared this understanding where the ones he enjoyed most in bed... the ones who braught the same energy and stamina -not to mention their strong warrior-women thighs- to bed...

Kai ran cupped fingers back and forth over the curve of the steering wheel, waiting for her reply, and trying to stop himself from letting his mind picture Julia's thighs. He gripped the steering wheel tighter... it wasn't working...

And then he bit his tongue, because his imagination had taken on epic proportions. All she needed to was look at him in that certain way of hers, and he was sure to loose it completely. He knew she could sense his fastly slipping control.

For the next few moments, she remained unmoving and silent, the only sound in the car the muffled noise of the engine and Julia's breathing, ragged and more than a little bit out of contol herself. The sudden tension in the air made her hotter than any caress a man had given her before.

Kai could only picture the matching pulse beating in her wrist, her chest, the base of her throat.. He could only think about it because he had no intention of looking away from her eyes. He could see her considering the possibilities. How would they fit together? Would he like her best on the bottom or on top? Would he prefer she take control, surender or fight him? Would he get his first? Would he be able to even make her come?

He smirked devilishly at that, not because he was an all-powerful lover, oh no, but because he was surprised how many women had given up on getting pure pleasure out of sex. And how many men weren't man enough to take the time and figure out what a woman needed. They weren't all built the same, you had to coax a responce from the, and see what made them tick...

Finally, Julia cleared her throat, and returned her glasses to her face. But not before a hint of grudging respect flashed in her eyes. 'A deal's a deal.'

He raised a brow, but settled for that answer. He put the car into gear again, exited Breakerz' parking lot and headed once more for Revolution Field.

Julia fell into a comfortable ramble as they drove. Kai simply let her talk, blocking out most of the words so all he could hear was the sound of her voice. Women liked to talk. Kai had figured that out a long time ago. All those lips moving and jaws flapping seemed to jar loose whatever respect they had for peace and quiet. Give them a willing ear, and they'd most likely talk it off... it was natural for them. He downshifted as they roled up to a traffic light and stopped.

Kai glanced over at her quickly before the light changed. Her lips moved, and he wondered what it was that drove her, where she got all her passion. He wondered how aware she was of her nature, and how it must be killing her to rein it in, to bite her tongue when it had so much to say. No, it was more than her mouth. Even the way she walked fit her personality. That, and the way she culled her dates, a sort of aggressive search-and-destroy for...what? He didn't have a clue...

She was ranting about Emily Tompson now...

'... only been there a little over a year and all she has to do is flex her claws, and Judy bends over backwards to give her anything she wants. It's all because she wants to hook Em up with her son Max. Like Maxie would ever dump Mariam for Emily Tompson! Don't get me wrong, I love Judy and most of the time the woman is brilliant with her ideas, but this one's so out there, it's past Andromida. I mean for the love of Christ, she's a nerd! Max goes for the spunkie, in-your-face sort of girls, not the I'd-rater-spend-my-time-with-my-nose-in-a-book girls. She's so serious at work it's crazy. gAL-gEAR isn't supposed to be the corperate government, it's more like a writer's appartment... messy, but homey. She's so composed and snooty, but under that image she... simmers.'

'Simmers?'

'Yeah, she's cooking...'

'Like you?'

'I _don't _simmer!' Julia pulled herself up straight in the seat. 'I boil!'

'Right over the top.' Kai made a _'driving motion' _with his hand at the slow truck in front of him.

'Exactly!'

She seemed so proud of her firey nature, he couldn't help but shake his head. That was exactly one of the things he wanted in a woman... A flaming vixen who took pride in, and respected herself... he shook his head harder.

Several more moments passed by slowly until they finally pulled into Revolution Park's parkinglot. 'What're we doing here?' She asked when he yanked the key from the ignition. The next sentence he said made her jaw drop. 'National Coed Volleyball Tournament.'

* * *

'You want me to play volleyball?! In a pit filled with dirt?'

'It's a court not a pit, filled with sand, not dirt.' Ray smirked, having joined the pair a few moments later. He smiled at Kai, who was busy taking off his high-tops and socks, then headed onto the court to join the rest of their team for a warm-up.

'Loose the shoes.' Kai ordered, standing up from his spot on the grass outside the court.

Fuming only slightly, she plunkered down on the grass beside his discarded boots and socks. She couldn't believe that of all things athletic Kai might choose for his first wish, he'd conned her into playing volleyball. Volleyball! Screw her career, she should've stayed in bed!

She's left her knapsac in the Mustang, realizing the bluenette's little wish for a sporting adventure didn't include a locker room or a shower. She looked at the players, Ray, Tyson, Max, Tala, Mariah, Mariam (both who'd just noticed her and started waving franticly) and Daichi among others... this was going to be one damn long, sweaty game.

Still... volleyball! She could only shake her head.

'Do you have a tux?' She asked, standing up beside him. 'I need you to wear one to the Wild Women Winter fashion show in September.'

'Yes.'

'Good.'

His gaze roaming down to Julia's naked feet and smooth bare calves. Flexing her calves, and thighs, Julia realized the man beside her was watching her warm-up. Smiling dangeriously, she moved on to working the kinks from her torso, not totally for her own benefit either. Brushing a piece of grass from her jean shorts, she stepped into the sand on the side of the court and wiggled her toes.

Kai felt his blood burning. Damn she had strong legs. Where in the hell did she get those calf muscles? Julia tugged her jersey free from her shorts, grabbed the hem, and jerked the shirt up over her head and off. His eyes narrowed, she was just playing with him now, but still, he didn't know where to look! For the longest time, he kept his gaze locked with Julia's, then moved over her tanned shoulders and chest to her full-coverage sports bra and bare stomach. The waistband of her shorts rode right below her navel, exposing the toned abdominals even Julia recognized as music video material.

He shifted on his feet, feeling his body starting to react to the very sight of hers.

'YO KAI! JULIA!' Tyson called suddenly, bringing the pair back to reality. 'ARE YOU TWO GONNA PLAY OR STAND THERE GAWKING AT EACH OTHER ALL DAY?!'

Kai shot the younger man one of his infamous death glared and marched over to the group of players. Julia watched him go, hesitating to fallow. He hadn't said a thing about her little strip tease! What kind of man was she really dealing with here? He wasn't like any other man, that's for sure.

And that scared her half to death.

* * *

YAY chapter three complete!!!

I loved it writing it and hope you enjoy it!

- chapter four will me up statudary or sunday.

ENJOY AND REVIEW!!!

DCM


	4. Game Time Aftermath

Rina: YES!! Chapter four!!

Rose: Wow, you're really on a roll with this story

Rina: I know!

Rose: Maybe you'll actually finish it this time.

Rina: I know... HEY!!!

Rose: Rina doesn't own beyblade, or the novel in which this story is based. She's doesn't have a spellcheck, you has done her best

Rina: ENJOY!! And if you wannna flame, let me get nonflammable clothing on first...

* * *

'GOT IT!' Bouncing from foot to foot in the back left corner of the court, Julia maneuvered into position beneath the incoming serve. The ball popped against her wrists, shot up perfectly, came down for Kai's set, and Ray's spike. The ball sliced over the fist of the recieving forward and hit the sand on the opposite side. Whooping it up with the rest of the Breakerz' Bashers, Julia roatated to the left front while Mariah stepped back to serve.

The team had managed to win their first two matches. This third match was the last of the afternoon and would determine the tournament winner. Having breezed through check-in, though she had no real connection to Breakerz', Julia still wasn't clear on the rules covering what qualified a person to play in a competing team. Who knew what story Tyson had cooked up and told the officials when Kai'd added her name to Breakerz' roster?

And, actually, she didn't care what they'd told them because -though she wasn't about to admit it to Kai and give him any sort of amuzement- she wouldn't have missed today for the world. She was having a blast, more fun than she'd had on a date since... well... since she could remember.

Of course today wasn't really a date, because she and Kai weren't really dating. But, one friend to another, he was definately showing her a good time. And damn that man, he knew she was enoying the game as much as she was. She could tell by the small smirk that splayed across his face every time he glanced her way.

'Head's up!' Mariam called as Mariah's serve sailed across the court. Pass, set, hit, and the ball skimmed inches above the net, right into Ray's block, and back down to the sand on the other side. The Breakerz' team cheered the point as pinkette readied for her second serve. The opposing forward slammed the return, and Kai went flying as he reached for a save. The ball hit his wrist at an awkward angle and popped toward Julia before she could blink. Reflexes and adrenaline kicked in and, knees bent, she stepped forward, swung her arms up and jumped, pulling her fist back, swinging her elbow forward, making contact high above her shoulder and...

_Smack!_

Awkwardly, she spike the ball, but spike it she did and, in a second, she registered the point she'd scored and the cheers going up from her teammates. She stood stunned for a moment, completey dazed she's actually pulled off a spike. Something she'd had difficulty with her entire time in highschool. _Wow... I did it..._ Ray met her midcourt for a high-five. Mariah and Mariam jumped her in a big group hug, and Maxie shot her a thumbs-up, while the rest of the team cheered, clapped and whooped.

And Kai, oh Kai...

Julia couldn't take her eyes off his approach. He was smiling at her, actually smiling! Not a small smile either, it was one of those rare ones that showed off his adorible dimples. Sweat soaked the neck and chest of his dark navy t-shirt. His eyes flashed with something she couldn't quite read, as he made is way determinedly towards her.

She barely had time to catch her breath or wipe the perpiration from her forehead before he was there and his arms were around her. She was airborne in a matter of seconds, her hands on his shoulders for balance as he twirled her in a circle. 'Kai!' Stop!' She dug her fingers deep, gouging his muscles, and loving the feel of his strength beneath her hands, loving even more the tickle and the warmth of his breath on the bare skin of her stomach. 'Put me down!'

He stopped, letting Julia slide down the length of his body to the ground, keeping her close, and holding her hips lightly. With her hands still on his shoulders, she looked into his eyes of flickering crimson. Her brests tightened in responce to his randy smirk and the hunger it failed to contain. Pressed as she was to his chest, she could hardly hide her body's reaction.

'Come on guys!' Daichi called, tossing the ball to Mariah. 'We've gotta game to finish. You can grind later!'

Shooting the youngest boy a glare, Kai jogged back to his position.

Fuming from her sudden reaction to him, she stuck out her tongue at her retreating back. _Men!_ Totally worthless species! Here she was, more hot and bothered over the feel of Kai's hand on her body than the physical exertion, and what did he do? Left her breathless and went back to playing his game! It was ridiculous really, how her thoughts about a certain muscular blunette seemed to be forever returning to sex. That very realization ticked her off even more!

Shaking her head, she too got back to the game, her concentration once more snagged by strategy and the play. She kept her eye on the ball, on Mariah's and Daichi's serves, Kai's blocks, Ray and Mariam's passes, Tyson's sets and Maxie's spikes. Her feet never stopped moving. She bounced, she shuffled, she jumped, she scooted through the sand and dived, assisted and scored. She played until sweat stung her eyes and burned her parched lips.

Then came the final play. Julia approached the net, crouched, judged her timing and shot into the air for a game-saving block. Scruffed leather git her palms. Her feet hit the ground. The ball barely cleared the net and, with the total lack of momentum from her puny impact, fell short of the outstretched hand on the opposite side, and plopped into the sand. Cheers went up from her teammates, and Julia couldn't help but grin.

Yet...

For one brief moment she saw nothing but the past... her father in the bleachers, cheering on the sons he'd come to watch play, the sons who's made him proud, who'd earned his affection with their sportsmanship skills. And Julia had sat at his side, the fingers of her right hand clapping against the palm of her left, a good little beauty queen... the perfect daughter... smiling... the dam of her clenched teeth holding back a flood of resentment for the very man who turned her into a living doll, the very man beside her.

It was unladylike, the resentment she's buried deep in her heart for fear of losing what attention her father did show her. She'd taught herself not to care, told herself she wasn't missing a thing... Oh, but how she'd been wrong... so... so very wrong. This was exactly what she'd missed, the feeling of shared accomplishment, of belonging.

And even more so, this amazing feeling of being true to herself, of damning propriety and going for broke. Her teammates descended and she couldn't help but smile a smile she'd never thought she'd ever have the chance to. And it bradened at the pride-filled flicker in Kai's eyes as he stood back and watched as the rest of their team surrounded her in hugs, compliments, and praises.

_Daddy! Look at your little girl now... Dirty... sweaty... and a hell of a mess!_

And happier than she'd been in ages.

* * *

Julia had never been inside Kai's house.

And it was a house, a real house! She noted this with approval, setting her knapsack on the antique telephone table in the entryway. Not a condo or a loft or anything equally trendy, through the two-story, wood frame structure was situated in a renovated histocial district.

Kai was busy upstairs taking a shower, and it took all of Julia's will power to keep her mind from wandering upstairs into the bathroom with him. So what if the man was built? It wasn't like she'd never seen abs before. Or like Kai didn't have an equally attractive brain. He'd been the first man in ages she'd seen who could take her crap and dish it right back, not to mention he'd been the first man ever to get her playing sports since... ever! Considering how she felt about sports and why, that was saying a lot.

For six years -three in junior high and three more in high school- she'd brought home forms for her father to sign, giving her permission to play volleyball, the compete at the interscholastic level. And For six years, he'd refused, but that had never stopped Julia from giving her all during intramurals and busting her ass to learn the game. Neither had it stopped her coaches from beseeching on her behalf.

However, her father had put his foot down, insisting men preferred their women cultered and beautiful, and no daughter of his was going to spout that feminist equality bullshit and display the aggressive nature of a man. His cold attitude had instantly hardened her heart to the opposite sex.

Not only did it harden her heart towards men, it hardened her heart towards anything. Until working with Mariam during their senior yeah, Julia had wondered what the point of anything was... She'd kept her grades up to keep her father happy, but never attended a game of her own free will after he first told her no, not even her brothers' games. He's always forced her to go, even if he had to carry her over his shoulder to get her there and give her a lashing across her hand or back for disobedience later on. Now, Kai actually had her playing! And he had no idea what he'd done!

He hadn't automatically stopped at his house after the game, he'd asked first, saying he needed to get cleaned up before his shift at Breakerz' he explained. She'd said no problem, so here she was, sitting in his kitchen while he was upstairs having a quick shower.

Her stomach growled.

'Hungry?'

At Kai's question, Julia slowly straightened and turned. She'd been about to ask if he had time to whip up a late afternoon lunch, but he stood there wearing nothing but a head of wet hair, and a knee-length towel around his waist. Her inner shifted, sitrring her blood and her interest. Damn he was fucking SEXY!!!!

She pulled open the refrigeration door, the cool air hit her back. Cool was nice...cool she needed right now when she felt hotter than the sun's surface. 'I could go for that lemon cheesecake.' _Or a bottle of chocolate and your skin._ Kai stepped closer, his gaze locked on hers, the distance between them growing sliver-width slim until with every breath she inhaled was nothing but Kai's unique sent on forest leaves and ambers. He reached behind her and into the fridge, pulling out the water bottle he'd been reaching for.

Kai drank from the bottle, drawing Julia gaze to his lips and then down his nearly nude body to the towel around his waist. She refused to let her gaze drop any lower. She licked her lower lip with a flicker of her tongue in an effort to shake her uncommon thirst. Damn, how could he do this to her without even touching her?

She found herself moving unconsciously towards him. It was hard to maintain control, especially when she wanted to touch the flesh she'd felt in the past only through his clothes. Julia took more than a slight pleasure in the laboured rise and fall of his chest. Kai was doing his best to appear calm and collected... at ease... but she wasn't fooled. His hunger was stirred, and the wrap at his waist no longer lay flush against his thighs. His excitement was evident, and Julia's stomach clenched and released. Her thighs grew warm and heavy.

Damn they were getting in over their heads. But she just had to touch him now, there was no turning back. She closed what little space there was left between them and pressed her open mouth against his neck. He remained conpletely still, letting her do what she wanted. Her hands layed flat against his chest, she could feel his pulse under her lips. He did little more than pull in a sharp breath at the first contact, but the tic in his rigidly held jaw, his heart beating rapidly under her fingertips, and his fingers wrapped so tightly around his waterbottle they were turning white were all Julia needed.

She pushed him backwards then, until his back came into contact with the wall. It wasn't a hard push. He could've easily over powered her and stopped it... if he wanted to. It was too apparent he didn't. Julia hooked her fingers into the top of his towel, tugging at the knot holding it in place until it fell away.

Kai's breath caught hard when she kissed the underside of his jaw, but somehow, he managed not to move, but to standing there naked without saying a word. Oh, how she longed to look down, to get a full view at what her fingers had so lighty brushed against. That brief contact eloquently spoke to the state of his arousal. And she was no less aware and aching. But she wanted to wait and wonder. To prolong the excitement, making it hard to breath.

She pressed a quick, opened-mouthed kiss to his hard jaw, and ran her hands up his damp chest, over his shoulders. Kai shuddered, a tremor that ran the length of his body. The water bottle hit the floor, and Julia knew she'd hit her mark. Trailing her lips along his jaw and down, she opened her lips over his breastbone. She wanted to make him tremble, but she was the one trembling, her breasts swollen and aching, her nipples hard peaks inisde her jersey and bra, begging to be touched by Kai's hands. All she had to do was ask, but she wan't finished with him yet.

She kissed her way down his midsection and dropped to her knees. She nibbled lower, moving her hands across his hips, and kissed his thigh. Kai's hands gripped the table near by for support, uncorssed his ankles and braced both feet flat on the floor. And still his body shuddered. With long strokes of her tongue, she massaged the underside of his shaft, the took his tip into her mouth.

A jolt shot through his body, and a choppy breath hissed through his teeth. She glanced up briefly, long enough to get a look at his closed eyes, his raised chin and his head, pressed back against the door of the cabinet behind. He blew choppy breaths out through his mouth, and Julia could sense he was loosing control. She knew she had to be causing pleasureable pain by now.

For several more minutes she teased and she played, enjoying his texture, his scent, his responsiveness and his taste. And then... she found herself on her back, pressed against the cold marble floor. Dazed, and completely in shock, she stared up into his burning crimson orbs. Julia could only gasp when he yanked her jersey up, exposing her stomach.

A strangled moan escaped her slightly parted lips when Kai pressed his own against her stomach and kissed his way up, over her skin, up to her neck. One of his hands crawled over her skin and squeezed her breast roughly. She trembled beneath him, grasping his shoulder and back to keep from loosing herself. Her head was spinning now, and she briefly wondered how control had shifted so suddenly.

Julia could feel his hands tugging at her shorts, running through her hair, squeezing her aching breasts, splaying across her stomach on top of the very spot that was burning. Julia ran her one hand across his face, ready to accecpt him, ready to-

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

At first the sound didn't register in her mind. But the sudden shift of his weight and his gruffled voice saying 'Yeah?' was enough to make her open her eyes. Almost immediately, she bolted to her feet, and rushed out the front door, ashamed she'd let her carefully calculated control slip.

Kai watched her go, Tyson's voice nothing but an annoying buzz in his ear.

Julia collasped on a bus bench more than seven blocks from Kai's house, completely shocked by her actions. She'd been more aroused by this one man's reaction that by direct stimulation from countless others. And now, because of her, their easy friendship was a thing of the past. But that wasn't what had her running scared. It was the realization that at some point, while her defences were lowered, Kai Hiwatari had become more than just another friend.

So... very much more...

* * *

Well, there's chapter three...

And my first lemony lime thingy... yeah awkward I know... expecially the ending, but i was getting bored with this chapter XD

well enjoy and review... pwease?!

dong-chun-mei


	5. What Drives Her

Rina: Heh heh heh Chapter five

Rose: Yay let's get to work!

Rina: O.O What's got you so hyper today??

Rose: ... oh nothing...

Rina: O.O well okay... I don't have a spellcheck but I did my best and if you wanna flame, wait until I've hidden behind my teddy bear m'kays?

* * *

Though the next day's open house wasn't scheduled to begin until four, noon found Julia in her office working to clean out her in-box. An in-depth marketing proposal for additions to the gRAFFITI-gAL line of medicated skin-care products was going to take more time to study than she had to spare today, so she decided to blow the next few hours reading mail from her twin brother's excursions in Argentina. Turns out Raul had developed quite a liking for the girls down there... She couldn't help but giggled at his e-mail... 

A knock sounded from the other side of her door. 'Come in.' She said while looking up.

A man entered. Tall, broad shouldered and beautiful, with hair serveral tones lighter than her own. Just as it had always been -well, except for the coal-black dye job he'd given himself a few years back when he'd decided to go Goth for his university graduation. That was the one and only time Julia could remember their father laying down the belt of Fernandez law across Micheal's back end.

She was out of her chair, around her desk and in her brother's arms before he could take another step into the room. She held him tight and he held her tighter. She didn't know whose heartbeat it was she felt in her chest. And then she looked up, met his mischevious-filled gaze and the four years since she'd seen him dissolved like mist. Oh, how she'd missed him! 'What are you doing here?!' She practically squealed the question as he swung her around. 'How in the world did you find me?'

Micheal finally lowered her back to the deep blue carpet. He cast a frowning glance around the room, which was decorated in dark, lonesome colours. 'You do business in here? How can you bear it?'

Julia pinched his arm. 'Stop making fun of my office and tell me why you're here. This is so out of the blue!' But it was so good to see him. Ten years older than Julia, Micheal had always been her champion, her ally even while he'd been their father's favourite son.

Micheal shook his head as he serveyed her office, but he didn't stop her from taking his hand and dragging him to the love seat against the opposite wall. Once they were both settled, Julia having kicked off her flip-flops, and tucked her feet beneath her, Micheal pulled out a folded up newspaper from the pocket of the sports' coat he wore with sneakers and worn demin jeans. It was a write-up on gAL-gEAR in the _BBA Times _business section. She wondered briefly if anyone else in her family had seen it. Then she wondered why she cared.

'It would've been nice to hear firsthand that my one and only baby sister is now a local celebrity.' Micheal's brows arched over his deep eyes.

Julia shrugged off the change. 'Oh, please. I'm hardly a celebrity.'

'You're doing something right to get your name here-' He tapped a long finger against the paper '-instead of in the tabloids.' He had no idea how close she was to becoming a tabloid headline. She could see it now..._ gAL-gEAR Partner blows Her Own Career..._

'I'm doing all right. But I want to hear about you!' She reached for his hand and squeezed it. 'What's going on in your little world of horses? You cann't be doing that badly considering those sneakers are Nikes' latest, most expensive design.'

Micheal studied her face of several long moments. His scrutiny unnerved her, because he'd been the only one able to see through her perfect daughter facade, the only one who'd known how miserable she'd been behind her perpetual smiles. She didn't even know if her smile was fooling him now.

'The sneakers were a gift.' Micheal admitted with a bit of a smirk. 'They're from a little cowgirl who can't get enough of me.'

Julia rolled her eyes. 'I see you haven't changed a bit. First it was cheerleaders. Now it's cowgirls. Is there a female alive able to resist your charm?'

'Only my sister.' He said, holding tight to her hand when she tried to pull free. 'What's the deal Jewels? You wave at me across the lawn at graduation and that's it?'

He was right. She has cut herself off from her family -because of her father- once she'd had her diploma in hand. She'd thought it the easiest way to be on her own. But now, seeing Micheal again, she knew she'd been hasty when filing her emotional divorce. Still, all she could do was shrug. 'I did what I thought I had to do...'

'Well, you thought wrong. I'm your brother Julia. I'm not our father... Neither is Tala, Ozuma, Johnny, Raul, Gordo or Brooklyn. Dad was never easy on any of us. But, yes...' Micheal added when her temper began to rise. 'He was especially hard on you.'

_He was hard on me because he wanted me to be mother..._ Bitterness began to seep into this moment where it wasn't wanted. 'Thank-you for noticing...'

'I noticed. You know I did, and so did Raul, even if you didn't think he did. He _is_ your twin after all.' He added the last part quickly when her eyes widened in surprise, and reached to cup her cheek. 'And even after I left home, I kept up with what was going on. The other boys told me. So I knew.'

Julia turned her head away from his touch. 'You knew what they told you. You didn't know what it was like... How hard I worked to please him... to hear one word of praise... But no matter how hard I tired... I could never get it right...'

Micheal shifted in his chair to sit forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, and turning so he could hold both of Julia's hands. He studied her fingers, and her short, practical nails painted red. She wanted to ruffle her hands through his hair the way he'd always ruffled hers. But to do that she'd have to let go, and she didn't want to let go yet.

And then Micheal looked up. 'Here's the thing Jewels. I don't know what it was like. Ozuma, Johnny, Brooklyn, and you twins were too young to remember. But I saw how dad was with mom. I saw it over and over for the ten years I had her.' His grip tighten almost painfully. "And I've lived with the guilt for years.'

Watching him scared the hell out of Julia. She jerked her hand away and stood, her bare toes curling into the plush carpet. 'What're you talking about?'

He continued to sit forward, he continued to study her face. 'I'm talking about leaving home the first chance I got, and letting dad treat you like he did mom. I'm talking about reputation versus fact, fantasy versus reality. Our mother was never the flawless ideal dad led you to believe she was. But what he wanted would've been impossible even for a saint. Though God knows she tried.'

Julia shook her head in a dazed denail she wasn't even aware of making. The world as she knew it had turned into a carnival house of mirrors. 'I don't believe in God.' It was all she could think of to say.

'I know...' The older man sighed. 'But, it's true Julia.'

She waved him off, then cupped her hands over her ears so she wouldn't have to hear any more. 'This doesn't make any sense. He worshipped her. All I heard for fifteen years was how perfect she was!'

'And she was.' Micheal agreed in a reverent tone, his gaze warmed by memories. "As far as I was concerned, she was. But to dad...' His focus sharpened. 'She never had a chance of pleasing him. She was human, just like you are!'

Julia started to pace, her bitterness welling to spill free in a flow of words. 'When I argued with him about volleyabll, he threw it in my face that my mother never questioned his decisions. When I wanted to major in mathimatics, he told me she would never have pursued anything that unladylike, even if she had considered working outside the home... -which she hadn't- because her only interests were home and family. She never smoked or raised her voice, and she certainly didn't drink! He let me know all that when he caught me with a hang over from someone spiking my juice at tenth grade prom! He said I wasn't his child, that he could never spaw such an evil, monsterously ungrateful daughter as I was... He said I was a failure-'

Micheal snagged her wrist, stopping her pases. 'When she swore, he took away her car keys. When he caught her in his whiskey, he cut up her credit cards. When she told him tha she'd enrolled in business classes at the community college, he told her she'd never pass. Why humiliate herself and him?'

'Julia has lost all her feeling in the hand Micheal gripped, as well as in the rest of her limbs. Her heart, suddenly bruised and aching, had stolen all sensation. 'You saw this?'

'I saw it, and I heard it. But I didn't realize it qualified as verbal abuse until I was out of that dysfunctional house.' Micheal shrugged, and let her go. 'It's a lousy excuse, but it's the only one I've got.'

Julia sank into the love seat beside her brother and hugged him tightly. 'No wonder we're all so fucked...'

After a minute, Micheal chuckled. 'Nice, little sister... very nice.'

The words were barely out of his mouth before Julia sat up straight, and enquired. 'Why the hell did she stay with him?'

'I can think of eight reasons all under the age of ten.'

Eight children... seven sons (one adopted), and one lone daughter, and tied to a man who set impossible standards. No wonder her mother had adored men in old movies so much. She had to have been miserably unhappy, forced to surrender her identy, her individuality. Having no control over a life that should have been her own first, shared with her partner second. Julia sighed, and closed her stinging eyes, stuck by the irony that, in the end, she'd done exactly what her father had wanted her to do. She'd become her mother, giving up who she was to earn her father's love.

She'd broken free, yes, but to become what? A wisecracking ball-buster her father would despise? A woman Julia wasn't too crazy about herself?

'I can't deal with this right now. I don't have time to deal with this now.' She shook off her tears and stood up. She had to get throught the open house before she could even begin to deal with any of what Micheal had just told her.

'Are you staying at the Doublehouse?' It was the motel he'd always stayed in when he was in town. He never stay at their father's house when he visited from his place in New York.

Micheal go to his feet and gave her his room number. 'The usual time right?'

'Seven?'

'Yep.'

'Perfect. And have your bags packed. You're coming to stay wiht me tonight.'

* * *

Yeah I know... Blah Blah Blah... no action at all in this chapter... 

But yeah... I thought it would be good to get Julia's past out in the open so everyone can see what drives her.

About the whole brothers thing... This is an AU and in this AU my muse has made Julia have seven brothers... XD

What?? I loved the idea!

Well I hope you enjoyed, and we'll get more romance into the next chapter... PROMISE!!

Now review pwease?!

Dong-Chun-Mei


	6. Open House Discovery

Rose: YAY Chapter 6!!!

Rina: Let's get down to business!!

Rose: Sure thing boss!

Rina: LOL I don't own beyblade and I don't have a spellcheck, but I did my best and if you really wanna flame, wait until I get my fire proof shield out m'kays?

* * *

Tired of waiting for Julia in the gAL-gEAR lobby, having already been there for fifteen minutes, Kai finally went in search of his "date". He found her in her office, her back to her desk, her arms wrapped around her middle and staring out her fifth floor window onto Kirby Drive. 

He leaned a shoulder against the door jamb, and folded his arms. He couldn't help but take a deep, steady breath. He'd never expected her to make him feel anything but the flirtatious affection so natural to their friendship. But he was feeling more now. More than he wanted to acknowledge... because it would make him a sap... a whipped sap. And no man with any self-respect allowed himself to be whipped by a single... _encounter_... no matter how mind-numbing it had been.

Still... the thought of her mouth made him weak in a way he didn't want to admit. But he'd long since learned that he wanted more from sex than the obvious fun. He wanted a connection... a woman to touch him in more than a physical way. He just wasn't sure Julia was that kind of woman... Not if she only had it in her to see man as the enemy. He figured a while back, this way of thinking was old-fashioned for todays modern flings. But he was raised to respect women, and this way of thinking had provided good for him so far.

If they didn't have anything going for them as a couple beyond the banter, the innuendo, and the sex, then she was right that their time together was nothing more than a favour between friends. Kai secretly hoped it might be more. He'd wanted for a long time to discover the source of their sparks. He also wondered what she was thinking about because, though she faced away, he could sense her pensive demeanor from the stiff set of her shoulders and curvy hips.

She wore a flowing dress, red, of course, it was her favourite colour. It adorned a floral print that draped loosely over her lower body, hugging her waist and bustline, yet teasing more than revealing most of her amazing curves. The hem, a flouncy type of ruffle thing, matching the ruffled collar, hit just above her knees. Her legs were bare, and that fit perfectly into Kai's plans to pay her back for yesterday's _kitchen encounter_.

It really didn't surprise him she'd darted from the house as quickly as she had yesterday. She'd been in a strangely prickly mood sense they'd left the park. He'd wanted, on the drive back, to ask what was on her mind, but had bit his lip, thinking better of it. He knew she'd enjoyed the volleyball tourney. No denial she could possibly come up with would change his opinion on that.

But Julia hadn't said anything at all... She'd just stared out the window, a funny sort of thoughtful crook to her mouth. The silence had become unnerving by the time they'd reached his house. He was sure if it had been anyone else in the vehicle with her, they'd have been seriously freeked out by her sudden silence.

Sooner or later, he was going to get to the bottom of why she'd been so adament that they keep their exchange of favours nonsexual, then had stripped him naked in his kitchen the first time they found themselves alone. Today, however, he had his first part of their three-part bargain to uphold... and a self made promise to keep. 'Julia.'

She gave a start when he spoke, pulling in a gulp of air, and shaking off the surprise before she turned calmly from the window, and offered him a faked half-smile. 'Yes?'

'Come on.' He stayed where he was, his pride preferring she make the choice to come to him.

She didn't move except to tilt her head slightly to the right. The curved ends of her two-toned hair brushed against the small of her back. 'Actually, I was trying to decide if staying in here wouldn be the smartest thing to do. Especially since any best foot I might put forward is still recovering from yesterday's game.'

Kai gave a snort. 'Liar.'

Julia narrowed her eyes until the barest sliver of emerald peeked through the slits of lashes and lids. 'I am not a liar.'

'You know what you want, and go for it.' He paused, struck anew by the thought that she'd certainly gone for what she wanted in his kitchen. 'Nothing holds you back.'

Her mouth twisted into a devious, but still only half hearted smirk. 'I believe that's the most you ever spoken at once.'

'Join our team.'

'Permanently?' The thought was tempting. Mariah and Mariam would definately love to have her on it with them.

'Yes.'

'I'll keep it in mind.' She said, then she frowned and asked. 'Don't you have to have a connection to Haydon's to play? How did you manage to sneak me past the officials yesterday?'

'Told them we were lovers.'

Julia fell backwards out of the chair she'd been sitting in, hitting the floor with a slight thunk. 'You WHAT?!'

Kai moved into the office, closing the door tightly with one hand behind him. His eyes, were fixed on her own completely stunned emerald orbs as she stumbled quickly to her feet, and tired to regain her composure. They had to talk about yesterday, no matter if they wanted to or not.

Reaching her desk, he let that thought trail off, and waited for her ball-busting denial that they weren't lover to begin. What he got instead was a thoughtful silence, and a lazy consideration from eyes boldly enhanced by eye shadow in shades of black and grey.

Her irises depended to almost a forest green and her pupils flashed with what told him was memories from yesterday. Kai stirred at the thought. Hell, he stirred every time he thought of her for the past twenty-four hours. But even before she'd yanked his towel from his hips yesterday, he'd reacted much the same way... there was just a new twist to the already tightly wound tension between them now.

She rolled her chair beneath her desk, walked around to the far end and propped a hip on the corner. Arms crossed, she swung one dangling foot, her skirt hiked halfway up her thigh... which wasn't doing much to keep Kai's mind on the here and now. He lifted his chin, and kept his gazed locked on hers. She swept her hair from her face with her fingers, then straighten her swinging leg, and examined the skin on her knee.

'Not a carpet burn...' She smirked as a confused look flickered in the depth of his crimson eyes. 'You know, I've never met a man I couldn't bring to his knees, but never have I been brought to mine. I'm not denying we're loves. After yesterday that would just be stupid. By mark my words, I'll never be on my knees for you, or any man that may come along after.'

'You were on them yesterday.'

'Julia pressed her lips together, taking a moment before lifting her gaze from her leg to his hard face. 'I might have been the one on my knees, but I was also the one in control.'

That was a lie, she knew it was, and his sudden hard grasp on her kneecap told her he knew it was too. He wasn't happy about it either. 'Liar.' He repeated and moved his hand farther up her leg. For a moment, she froze, hesitated, then her chin came up sharply and her breath caught. _Control my ass..._ He thought, and continued the trip he'd begin at her knee. She had no idea who she was dealing with...

Reaching the loose hem of her dress, he walked his fingers beneath the edge of the material, and up the smooth skin of her thigh. His hand lingered, and when she didn't move a muscle, when she didn't say a word, when she didn't let go of the breath he'd heard her pull in, he took a bold step into her space.

He moved his hand in a slow caress up her thigh to her hip, watching her pupils widen. Her lips softly part to draw air into her lungs as he approached the waistband of her underwear. Touching her skin was like exploring the forbidden, sharing a rush of blood, and the rise between his legs, with the very woman making him ache. His palm skimmed over her belly, and she adjusted her perch on the edge of the desk, spreading her legs a bit wider, her weight balanced between the one foot she had on the floor and the hand she'd braced flat on the desk at her side.

Her eyes drifted shut with the arousal that shruddered through her. Kai's fingertips yanked at her underwear, pulling them down until they were off her hips. His index finger dipped down and pressed hard. Her eyes flew open, and she looked over his shoulder, her lower lip caught between her teeth as if to hold back sounds rolling from her belly to her throat. He heard them anyway, and he wasn't going to stand for her looking away. He was aroused to the point of pain, but that satisfaction mattered less than looking into Julia's eyes while making her come.

He lifted his finger away. She squirmed and arched, seeking the return of his touch. He smirking, imagining the intensity of taking her to bed. She was all he could think of right now, giving her pleasure like none she'd ever known before. He teased her with a single butterfly kiss to her throat and unzipped the back of her dress. The hand she wasn't using to support herself moved to his back, pressing hard.

But he wasn't having any of that, not until he had more than her body's attention. 'Julia...'

She knew what he wanted, and gave a tiny shake of her head. He niped at the underside of her jaw, and drew a thin strap off her shoulder. 'I can't...' She whispered.

'Look at me.' He hissed, stepped closer, and pushed two fingers into her.

She stiffled a cry against his neck, her sharp nails digging into the bare skin of his upper arm. His erection seized up; the ache became unbearable, the need to release a tension with a life of it's own. His plan at payback was going awry.

Kai's lips moved to her ear, biting it gently, then bathing the nips with the stroke of his tongue. 'S-stop...' She moaned just loud enough for him to hear.

'Look at me.' His fingers eased in, pulled out. His free hand ran down her back, and around her front, undoing her bra clasp as he did.

'Kai...' She cried. He felt her desperation rather than heard it.

'Look at me.' He demanded, pressing his fingers deeper into her. Julia's nailes dug deeper into his skin, and she shuddered from the inside out.

'No! Don't! S-Stop!' But he didn't, he couldn't. He was at the end of his control. It was everything he could do not to throw her agaist the wall, and take her right there.

He tigged her down her dress's other strap, and buried his face between her still covered breasts. Damn he was thankful she had on a frontclasp. He stayed there for a moment, trying to gather himself. Julia could feel his warm breath between her aching breast, and moved unconsciously, the tension in her stomach to much to bare any longer. His hand pressed dangerously against her back, warning her to stay still. She complied with a whimper, and laid her cheek against the top of his head.

It was her heartbeat that finally calmed his body enough for him to claim some small amount of control over it. He raised his hand slowly, kissing across her throat as he did. She buried her face back in his neck.

'Julia, look at me...' He rasped, his voice heavy with arousal, and slightly winded. 'I want to watch you come... I want to watch you eyes flash... I want to see it on your face...'

At that, her gaze finally cut to his. '...Never would've... taken you for a... sweet talker...' She manged, but kept eye contact, not even looking away when he started to move his fingers inside her. Her eyes expressed everything she was feeling -the fire, the ache, the surprise that she was giving up so much to him, and actually heeding his request.

What he saw was almost enough to make him believe she was reaching for more than her own completion. That she was giving him a release from his cynicism that anything about this encounter was smart. She pulled in a sharp breath. He felt it jerk her body away, and then he felt her come. Her back buckled, arching her right off the desk, and he held her so she wouldn't fall. Her arms looped around Kai's shoulders, and bunched his shirt between her fists so tightly, they turned white.

Finally, she exhaled. Her body relaxed, slacken against his, even as her dispostion stiffened. Seconds ago she'd pulled him close; now she pushed him away, yanking down the drape of her skirt as she did.

Despite the flush in her cheeks, her brows clenched together. Julia slid back on her desk, brought her knees up tightly to her chest, and hugged them like a life line. 'You can leave now.'

Kai couldn't believe it. He was standing here so aroused he was on the verge of explding after giving her the organsm of her life, and now she was shutting him out? He folded his arms across his chest. What in the hell had happened to make her like this towards men? Did she do this to all her men? Or was it just him? 'No.'

She glared at him, her eyes glassy. 'Why the hell not? You accomplished what you came here to do now go. I'll be along in a few minutes!'

Kai grapped her hand, pulling her roughly to her feet. She yanked herself from his grasp. He studied her cautiously, wondering how in the hell she could take a 180 so quickly. Here was a dangeriously beautiful woman before him with her dress unzipped, hanging on her shoulders, the front clasp of her bra undone so the material barely clung to her breasts, her bakini underwear yanked so low, you could see the waistband peeking out from her half dangling skirt, and she was telling him to get out!

Then something clicked in his mind, and everything suddenly made sense. He reached out a hand to brush away a strand of hair from her sweat-sticky forehead, and she flinched under the tender contact. Feeling suddenly tired, he let his hand drop and stepped back, giving her room. 'I'm not the one who hurt you.' His sharp, cold voice hit harder than a bullet, and left her shaking. 'Don't let the past ruin out relationship.'

---------------------------------

Well there you have it...

Oh... tension at the end... But you all know who hurt her... right? right?!

Anyways, review if you wanna, and I hope you enjoy this!

Dong-Chun-Mei


	7. The Act of Breaking Up

Rose: Wow chapter seven, we're one a role!

Rina: I know but I want to get one more chapter up because once July comes around I'm not going to have much time to update anything

Rose: O.O Very busy... July isn't a good month

Rina: Yeah anyways I don't own beyblade or the story in which this is based. I also don't have a spellcheck but I did my best so enjoy!

* * *

Hilary Tatibana had never forgotten a thing she'd once known about feeling self-conscious. Still, that seemed like another lifetime, and she no longer thought twice about standing alone in a crowd with nothing but her musings for company.

Here at the open house, she felt completely at home. She'd already visited with most of her friends, met and mingled with the firm's employees, spouses and significant others in numbers equal to that of the media. Lingering now by the lobby's receptionist station, she sipped her ice tea and people-watched, getting a secret little kick out of witnessing the professionalism projected by her gAL-gEAR partners, excluding the bed-ridden Mariam.

To think these were the same women she'd discussed bikini waxes and hair-care products with, these where the women whom she shared tales of sex gone wrong as well as sex gone right, with whom she indulged in chocolate and maragritas (though the latter two definately not at the same time) was amazing to her.

Like the rest of the gAL-gEAR partners, Hilary was confident in who she was, and what she wanted from life. She loved her work in multimedia design, and especially loved being part of the team at gAL-gEAR, though she was, admittedly, constantly amazed by the company's success.

Hilary was lucky, as well, in her friendships, including what she shared with all her co-workers -those were friendships that went beyond those bounds. Their bond was that of sisters, and Hilary didn't know what she would've done without her best friends' support over the past month. Breaking off her relationship with Tyson had been one of the most difficult things Hilary had ever endured. She'd thought the pain of the loss would ease with time... She thought wrong.

She'd known that Tyson would be here today. Dragon Spirit Sword School, the samurai training ground he owned, had done a special training program for last month magazine...

She'd known he'd be here, but had that knowledge made it easier or harder to come, to mingle... to see him approached by one woman after another. To see him give each undivided attention which was so like the Tyson she knew. Always having time for a pretty fan...

No, Hilary didn't mind standing alone in a crowd, but now that Mariah and Ray had run off, leaving Hilary at loose ends, she was having trouble keeping he eyes off of Tyson and Emily Tompson.

Whatever had Judy been thinking? Why did she hire that woman in the first place? That was a rhetorical question if Hilary had ever asked herself one, because she knew the answer. Emily's qualifications could've earned her a gAL-gEAR partnership if there were any to spare... not that the six founding members had ever talked about taking on a seventh... If the issue was brought to a vote any day but today, Hilary would truely have to weigh that was best for the company against her own personal feelings. Em, after all, was damn good at her job.

If a vote was taken today, however, Hilary's vote would have to be no, because Em couldn't keep her hands off Tyson! And although Hilary's head had made the decision to end their relationship before it tumbled farther to nowhere, her heart had not yet given him up.

'If you're standing here all by yourself for a reason, I'll leave you alone. But if you don't mind the company, then I'd love to stay and chat. These function things aren't really my thing, so it's good to have someone to talk to!' At the sound of Max Tate's voice, HIlary turned and looked up into the baby-blue eyes of Judy's son.

At six feet even, he was an inch shorter than Tyson, though he shared the same lean swimmers build. His hair was cut spicky and was light, a colour somwhere between yellow and an off gold. Just like his mother's... 'Hey Maxie...' She said and smiled. It was a smile more genuine than any she'd delivered so far today. 'I must say, I am surprised to see you here... I didn't think you're mother even let you into the offices.'

Max chuckled. 'She doesn't too often. But she wanted me here tonight, so I came.'

'Still on bad terms with your mom over Mariam, Maxie?'

His face paled. 'N-no!' He protested. 'We're really not!'

'If you say so Maxie...' She sighed, he always was terrible at hiding things. Every emotion he had showed in his clear blue eyes.

Still slightly paled, Max downed the rest of his club soda then whispered. 'Hil, not that it's any of my buisness, but did you know Emily's moving in on your territory?'

Hilary kept her eyes on the bottom of her empty cup instead of glancing beyond Max towards Tyson and Em. 'Tyson and I aren't together any longer...' She mumbled.

Max looked completely shocked for a moment, then squeezed her elbow before letting her go. 'I'm sorry. I had no idea... well I guess that's what I get for taking an inturnship half way across the country for six months. I've completely fallen behind in everything, haven't I?'

Hilary gave a small, careless shrug and tossed back her shoulder length brown hair. 'Don't worry about it Max. The split was amicable enough... Tyson and I are still on speaking terms... kind of.'

Max nodded silently and finished his drink. Setting his glass on a nearby table, he gently trapped her hand beneath his. 'Hilary, why don't you have dinner with me tonight?'

_Did... did he just ask me out? _'Now? Tonight?' Hilary wasn't sure she could remember how to breathe.

He smiled one of he oh, so charming smiles. 'Yeah now... You're one of my best friends, and it's apparent you need to talk, so why not?'

_I shouldn't let my mind get so carried away... Max is happily with Mariam... he's just worried about me... but still... it was nice of him to ask... _'I'd love to.' To hell with Tyson and Emily, She'd just been asked out to dinner by _the_ Max Tate, what girl in her right mind wouldn't say yes?

'Great.' Max glanced at his watch. 'I've just got to call Mariam and see if she needs anything. She hasn't been feeling well over the last week or so. She's been getting sick a lot in the mornings, and feeling really tired at night... But you already knew that didn't you?' The brunette nodded, thinking of her indigo haired friend sick at home. 'After that, we can go. How does seafood grab you?'

Hilary doubted she'd be able to swallow a single bite. 'Sounds perfect.' She said, because it did.

* * *

Her pride was never going to recover from this one. Julia had decided that moments after the _little disaster_ had happened in her office. Even now, Kai was driving her nuts with every little touch of his hand to the small of her back, or to her elbow. The constant reminders of what he'd done to her only a short while ago had her biting her tongue to keep from moaning out loud.

What they'd done in her office had caught her completely off guard by the passion. She'd been seized by a desire she'd never known before. Her hunger has stemmed from a lust that was primal and raw. A lust for nothing, she told herself, but the physical bliss that had shuddered from the center of her body.

They stood to the left of the receptionist's station in the lobby of the gAL-gEAR offices. Each of the partners was there, except Mariam, she'd been too sick to come...

This open house was important to Judy, Julia knew that, it was important to all of them, but Judy had a more personal stake on the line involving the company's start-up and her relationship with her son. Those details hadn't been shared, for whatever reason, however julia knew it was about Max's taste in women. As much as Judy respected Mariam as a buisness genius and a partner, she didn't want her anywhere near her baby boy.

'That's not going to happen again.' Julia hissed lowly in Kai's ear.

He raised a brow, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

'Don't act innocent Hiwatari!' She snapped, poking his chest with one finger. 'You know what I'm getting at!'

Kai moved one of his hands to the center of her back, drawing tiny circles between her shoulder blades. Julia shivered. His touch was like a hot plate! Coils of heat radiated in ever expanding loops until she was sure she'd melt into the lobby's floor. 'You better mingle.' He leaned down closer to add, 'People're getting curious.'

'Curious about what?' She asked, though she was hardly unaware of the pairs of eyes checking them out.

'Us.'

Unfortunately, he was right that she needed to mingle. Even more unfortunately, she wasn't sure she could do so and hide the lingering remnants of what she was feeling. Heat still infused her face, and the lace of her bra still scraped the sensitive skin of her breasts, which ment any time she twisted she remembered.

She'd give anything to wash Eric and the entire day from her mind. Better yet, blow off this unholy alliance. But giving up now would only leave her exactly where she'd started. One more one-nighter to add to her fast-and-furious reputation... Except this would be her second date with Eric, wouldn't it? If what they were doing could be called dating... (which it wasnt!) and not just fooling around (which it was!).

'There you are Julia!' Sang out a voice Julia could have gone the rest of the day without hearing. 'I've been looking for you everywhere. The reporter from So_ Teen_ wants to talk to you about gRAFFITI gAL for their fall preview issue. I gave them my outlook, of course, but I don't yet know the specifics on the colours.'

_For a very good reason... _Julia thought. _You can't keep your mouth shut! _Then she took a deep breath, and gave Kai a smile that said _This is what I was talking about_. Finally, she turned toward the approaching, or would that be descending, Emily Tompson. Julia hadn't been exaggerating when she'd told Kai that Em had BRAT written all over her.

Two or three inches shorter than Julia, the American woman was all fire and flash. Her skin was finely tanned, her orange hair a study in slashes and sharp angles framing a face both sultry and mysterious. She was a beautiful woman, Julia had to admit that. But Em's career drive was like fingernails down the chalkboard to Julia own aggressive nature.

In other words, the two didn't blend into a seamless team. 'Em, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, Kai Hiwatari. Kai, this is one of gAL-gEAR's buyers, Emily Tompson.'

Emily eyed Kai, who glared back at her like he did everyone. Julia could only watch and wonder why she'd bothered to get out of bed this morning. After shaking Kai's hand, Em crossed her arms over her chest and raised a confident brow. 'I don't think I've seen you with Julia before, Kai... But it's hard to keep track with her. Lucky girl... she has so many friends.'

Julia temper rolled to the tip of her tongue, but Kai put the brakes on her first bad words of the day with nothing but the stare he delivered straight to her. A stare that said _Leave this to me_. Julia felt apprecation for him weld in her chest.

'I'm luckier.' Kai started, a protective emotion flashing through his eyes as he moved his gaze from the brunette beside him to her rival. 'She's wonderful...' Emily shorted in disbelief.

Julia bit her lip... no other man had ever said anything so wonderful about her before! She patted him on the shoulder, and gave Em a sweet smile. 'This guy's too charming to release out into the general public. I have to keep him locked away.'

The other woman tapped a long pale finger on her bare forearm, her arms still crossed. 'I'm quite certain I haven't met a slave before. Shouldn't you be wearing black and licking her feet?'

At that, Kai's own anger boiled over, but somehow he managed to keep it in, and only glared daggers at the orange haired woman. 'Leave.' He hissed.

Emily's eyes narrowed, but she didn't push the conversation any farther. 'Julia, the reporter's over by the front door talking to MingMing.'

Julia glanced over, searching out her partner's long blue hair. MingMing Pellow, no doubt, was chewing off the reporter's ear with her always uncanny predictions for the next fashion season. 'Thanks Em. I'll work my way over there.' Julia started to turn away, but couldn't stop one last dig from falling off the end of her tongue. 'You're welcome to come along and hear what Judy and I have planned.'

'I appreciate the offer, but the information will come across my desk soon enough.' Emily lifted her chin, her interest caught by something beyond Kai's shoulder. 'Besides, I have something I need to discuss with Judy. You two enjoy the rest of the afternoon.'

The other woman spun gracefully away, and Julia leaned to peer around Kai's body to see what had Em on the prowl. 'Oh please...'

Kai followed the direction of the two-toned brunette's gaze, blowing out a loud snort once he, too, saw who had snagged Emily Tompson's attention. 'Tyson?'

'Well, he's definately not torn up after dumping Hilary.' She retorted.

'He looks terrible.'

'Yeah, he puts on a good act...' And that was another thing. If what Hilary had with Tyson wasn't true love... Julia glanced around the room, finding Hilary at the end of the bar in conversation with Mariah Wong, Ray Kon... and Max Tate! Interesting... Knowing Judy, she'd been pleased with this sudden turn of events.

'Act?' Kai kept his gaze trained across the room as he leaned in low. 'He's a reck.'

'Hmmph.' Julia did wonder... 'That would make him capable of human emotion.'

'He is.'

'Sure... Just like the rest of you men.' She said with a snort. 'Lust, pride, wrath, greed, envy, gluttony, and sloth!' Julia continued to cut her gaze between Tyson and Hilary until her _date_ moved to block her line of sight, forcing her to look up. 'What?' It was all she could say, They didn't have to talk about this here did they?

'Makes me wonder...' He smirked. 'How much of you is an act?'

She bit her lip. 'Someone's talkative today, why don't you keep it up, and go talk to Ray. He's waving you over, and I have a reporter waiting for me.'

Kai looked as if he had much more to say, more that came from a place he wasn't ready to reveal or revisit. A place resonsible for the picture-collaged wall-paper in his office at Breakerz'. And the need to immerse himself in what for most was a simple job, but for him was all-consuming. But then his pride chased the vulnerble glint from his eyes, and he nodded. 'Fine.'

'Fine.' She agreed, and marched away.

She stopped at the bar and grapped two shots of whiskey. Downing them, she reached for another, not daring to look back. She could still feel his crimson eyes into her back her. Gasping, she resisted the urge to grab two or three more, and slammed her empty glass back down. She was in deep trouble as it was. She didn't need to compound her sins by washing away her worries with boose.

She needed to keep a clear head in order to convince herself she wasn't falling in love...

* * *

There you have it, another, little longer chapter DONE DONE DONE!!!!

I thought it'd be nice to intermingle with some other characters beside Kai and Julia for a change.

I actually liked this chapter. Next time, we'll get a little girl time in with the partners of gAL-gEAR at a meeting.

Until then, this is for MIKAERA because i'm going to west now and won't update for sometime... I hope she'll review this time...

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!!!

Dong-Chun-Mei


	8. The Baby Surprise

FINALLY the next chapter is underway!!!!! YAY LOL

Once more I own nothing, I have not spellcheck and I'm doing this only for fun. So if you wanna flame me make sure you use a blow torch! XD

Enjoy

* * *

Not surprising to Julia or any of the partners, Mariah Wong was the last to arrive at the loft she used to share with Hilary for the partners' meeting on Thrusday night of that same week. The agenda: to discuss the upcoming gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL competition. Having snagged Raymond Kon, one of the sexiest single men in the city, Mariah had every rhyme and reason to be late to work, to meetings, even to her own funeral... so to speak...

Julia, sitting cross-legged in the center of the sofa, didn't even pretend to suppress her envy. 'Glad you could drag your butt out of bed to join us.'

Mariah plopped down in the yellow-and-red-plaid chair, where she still looked at home, and still like she was only sixteen-years-old. She blew Julia a kiss, even while shrugging an apology at Judy. 'Ray's stuck at a desposition. And you have no idea how many connections Metro makes between here and the condo.'

Returning from the kitchen, Hilary walked in on the conversation, carrying a try loaded down with six glasses, a bucket of ice, and a dozen cans of diet soda. She set the load down on the low table she'd added since Mariah had moved out. 'You could've taken a cab, or called me to come pick you up.'

'You coming to pick me up would've taken twice as long this time of night, and I'm not going to spend money on a cab when for only a buck-' Mariah held up one index finger. '-I can get a ride _and_ a show.'

Mariam flinched as she leaned from the sofa's corner cushion to reach for a glass of ice, the headset of her cell phone attached to one ear. 'That's exactly why I hate the bus. I always feel like I'm sitting by a side-show freek on them...'

'Mar, you over-think things too much.' And she did. She was a total femeninist with more technical knowledge than half the guys Julia knew. But she loved her for it.

'Watch it Jul, or you might come into the office one morning and find your computer's been hit with a virus.' Mariam rubbed her stomach, nibbling on an icecube as she did. 'A really nasty bug, an ungly old worm-'

'You're complaining about bus rides, but you get all orgasmic over worms and bugs?' Julia shook her head. 'You scare me sometimes Mar...'

'You should be scared, very scared!' Mariam stuck out her tongue. The two-toned brunette did the same, but went one better and blew a loud raspberry.

'Very mature ladies...' Judy sighed, sitting her paperwork down on the floor.

'She's got to let loose somewhere Judy!' MingMing exclaimed. 'All this buisness of cleaning up her act is turning Julia into a crank.'

'What do you mean, _turning her into_? When has she not been a crank?' Mariah asked, joining Julia in another round of childish tongue play.

Julia finally gave it up and huffed. 'If I'm a crank, it's because I'm being forced to deny my nature!'

'I saw you with Kai during Sunday's open house.' MingMing picked up a soda from the table and sat down on the floor. 'You're definitely in denial, bit it's not about your nature. Your nature was doing its best to indulge.'

'I was going to mention that, Julia.' Judy grabbed a soda of her own, and moved to stand behind Mariah's chair, where she'd left her briefcase and paperwork earlier. 'I suppose you have a good reason for this new attachment you have to Mr. Hiwatari?'

'Hey, hey! One at a time, if you don't mind. Even a crank can take only so much abuse!' Julia chugged her soda striaght from the can, no glass, no ice. She'd kill for a shot of vodka right about now. "Kai is a friend who's indiscriminate dating doesn't get any worse. That's it.'

'How do you figure dating such a womanizer is going to do your reputation any good?' Asked Hilary, who'd managed to squeeze into the plaid chair beside Mariah.

'It's a temporary solution! He's acting as my escort to prove I can stick with one man, thereby giving me an air of respectability.' She kept the three nonsexual favors part, and the two unplanned sexual encounters to herself. Spouting her own canned spin was bad enough.

'You may be exclusive, but I wouldn't be so sure about Kai.' MingMing interjected. 'I saw him the other night at the Go Shoot Factory.'

'On a date?' Julia couldn't believe how hard it was to ask that question with a level voice, and a straight face... Or how it set off a burn in her stomach...

MingMing shrugged. 'I don't know that it was a date. He was with a big group, and he didn't look all too happy to be there... But the women on either on either side of him? They couldn't keep their hands to themselves.'

Julia shrugged, silently swearing that the next time she saw Kai, she'd kill him, then set him straight. 'Like I said. This is temporary, and he's acting.'

'Kai doesn't seem like the kind that'd have trouble keeping it zipped, but if he is having trouble, this arragement is going to blow up in your face.' Judy circled the chair, now full of Mariah and Hilary, and moved to the free end of the sofa. 'But I do appreciate the you're making the effort...'

Mariam drew her kness to her chest and sank back into the corner when a sudden wave of sickness hit her. MingMing was the first to notice the indigo haired girl's sudden withdrawl. 'Hey Mariam, are you still not feeling the best? You know you didn't have to force yourself to come...'

Mariam twisted her mouth as she sighed. 'I know, but I've been feeling like this for almost three weeks now. I can't lay around my flat forever... I'm sick almost every morning, but if I don't eat anything until lunch I'm usuallt fine.'

'And that would be too much information hun.' Hilary interrupted.

'Oh speaking of too much information.' Judy turned her gaze on Mariah. 'Could you and Mr. Kon please confine your bathroom antics to bathrooms other than the ones at the office?'

The pinkette's blush barely registered through her bronzed skin and she cringed. 'Ray swore he locked the door!'

Judy shapely blonde brow lifted. 'Obviously any man with a tush that cute can't be trusted.'

Mariah's blush deepened. 'I'll tell him you sent your compliments.'

'Oh fine!' Julia could only shake her head. 'Mariah does the bathroom boink and earns compliments. I get Kai to act as my escort, and I get nothing but grief!'

'Okay Julia, Kai as a great ass too!' MingMing's critique sent the girls into another round of whoops and whistles. Julia buried her face in the arms she'd crossed over her updrawn kness. Hopeless... Totally hopeless... All this talk of boinking and butts was not the way to keep a straight face. Not when thoughts of Kai's naked body and the many ways she could enjoy his offerings were never far from her mind.

'Ooh!' Mariam cried suddenly, leaning forward before she went running to the bathroom with a hand over her mouth. The room fell deadly silent.

Julia and Hilary scrambled to their feel and went to check on their friend. They found the Mariam sitting on the side of the tub crying her eyes out. 'Why did I ig-ignore the signs? I should've known sooner...'

'Mar, what's wrong?' Hilary asked as she sat down beside Mariam, and hugged her tightly.

'P-Promise you won't tell anyone... especially Judy...'

'Okay, we won't.' Julia promised before Hilary could answer.

'I... I'm pregnant... I just felt my stomach move...'

* * *

The three girls returned to the living room with heavy hear, just in time to catch the tail end of MingMing saying. '... just a redirection of your focus and energies.'

Julia glared. 'I swear, Ming, you'd better not go all cosmic on us again.'

'Anyone going cosmic, or _anywhere_, for that matter, just forget about it. Now that Mariam is feeling better... you are feeling better right?' The younger women nodded, her face pale from sickness and worry. 'We have work to do.' Having dug six bound portfolois from her breifcase, Judy passed one to each of the women and kept one for herself. She perched on the edge of a sofa cushion, surrounded by the group. 'These are the six scholarship finalists. Each of you will find the profile of the contestant you selected from the first round of the entrants you judged. You'll also find profile of retrants the rest of us chose. The awards ceremony is next Saturday night, which gives us over a week before deciding who will be our first gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL.'

'We're not judging on just these profiles, right?' Mariah asked, flipping through the pages. 'We do get to see the final round of designs, and meet the girls on Saturday don't we?'

Judy nodded. 'Yes. Also, the finalists have all been contacted, and have sent in videotapes. I'll have a television set up in the conference room by tomorrow.'

'Cool. We can use these profilios like program guides for taking notes.' Hilary added.

'Exactly. The portfolios have been put together to help you get to know each of the girls. They include the original questionnaire the girls filled out, the basics, really, on who they are, where they come from, etcetera...' Judy clarified. 'You'll also find their essay explaining why they're chosen fashion as their field of study, as well as the pictures and descriptions of their submissions in the school wear, casual wear, and buisness-wear categories. The formal wear they'll model live at the ceremony.'

Hilary nudged an elbow into Mariah's side. ''Riah, if you'd come to the office once in a while you could keep up with what's going on.'

The golden eyed girl pouted. 'Hey, I have e-mail you know.'

'Then read it, because this was all spelled out months ago when we established the scholarship competition.'

'Go easy on her Judy!' MingMing snickered. 'Months ago her mind wasn't mush from being in love... Now every brain sell is hopelessly devoted to Ray.'

At MingMing's comment, Julia began humming the chorus of _"Hopelessly Devoted to You"_ The Olivia Newton-John version from the movie _Grease_. Mariah joined in with the words and Judy, forgetting her annoyance, soon followed, both swaying back and forth, hands together beneath their chins as if praying.

**But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else  
for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to you  
But now there's nowhere to hide,  
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,  
hopelessly devoted to you  
Hopelessly devoted to you,  
hopelessly devoted to you**

Soon, Hilary joined in with the sing, leaving MingMing and Mariam to sit and wait for their unruly friends to finish their ode to men. Julia decided it was time for Mariam to get her mind off what she was going to do about the little ceature growing inside her. Pulling her to her feet, Julia linked their hands together, swung their arms to and fro, finally drawing Mariam into a circular dance around the room.

**My head is saying "fool, forget him",  
my heart is saying "don't let go"  
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do  
I'm hopelessly devoted to you  
But now there's nowhere to hide,  
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,  
hopelessly devoted to you  
Hopelessly devoted to you,  
hopelessly devoted to you**

And then, as the impromptu girl group reached the end of the song, MingMing joined in, Her voice clear, strong, and full. Mariam gasped. 'MINGMING PELLOW! Why haven't you ever told us you could sing?!'

MingMinfg shrugged one shoulder, and barely finished the end of 'Hopelessly Devoted" before launching into the middle of "I Don't Need A Man" by shaking her finger and belting out the lyrics.

Julia, by now, had stopped dancing and had perched on the end of the sofa. She watched the antics of her best friends with a smile on her face. Why did she have to worry about? She had friends who loved her and who she loved in return. She's get through this temporary crisis of career, and of self with their help, just like Mariam would. What more could a girl ask for?

Even as she fortified herself with strength of her friendships, she looked over to catch the strangest look on Mariah's face. It was almost as if she were pulled between staying and having fun with her friends, and wanting to rush home to Ray.

A month ago Julia's cynical side would've reached across the room and given Mariah a shaking. But right now, What the two-toned girl felt for her best friend was kinship... Becuase the person Julia wanted to see more than anyone else in the world right now was halfway across town, serving up cold, draft beer.

* * *

DA-DA-DA! Mariam's pregnant! Big surprise.. not really I've been hinting at this for a chapter or so now... Wasn't going to add it to this chapter, but it kind of slipped in LOL.

Well I hope you enjoyed, we're going to have some hot smexy fun at the ceremony soon, so review! Review! Reviewwww!!!!

Dong-Chun-Mei


	9. Firebreathing Dragon

Rose: Wow... These chapters are really coming along

Rina: don't I know it! I'm on a roll!

Well you know the drill...

Enjoy

* * *

A week had passed since the partner's meeting, and almost two full weeks had crawled by since Julia had last head from Kai. Rather, since she'd last _seen_ Kai Sunday afternoon a week ago at the gAL-gEAR open house. She had heard from him. He'd called twice, one at her office, once at home. Never for an particular reason. Only, as he'd told her, to check up on her, and see how she was doing after her little _'episode' _in her office. Apparently it wasn't wize to freak out in the presence of Kai Hiwatari and then shrug it off like it was nothing... Her mistake... 

But the calls... they were the sort of things friends called friends to find out. Julia wasn't used to having a man call just to talk. Men called, and men talked. But rarely did the conversation end before they'd ask about getting together, then ask about the bee that'd flow up her butt... Because lately she hadn't been particularly kind when saying no.

She sighed, realizing how long it had been since she'd even cared about going out with anyone, and wondering why Kai never called to do more than to see if she was okay. And why should it bother her in the first place, when all she wanted from him was the friendship he was giving? Most of all she wondered why she was wasting time letting her mind wander, and procrastinating when she'd promised herself she wouldn't leave the office today until she answered the letter on her desk.

She'd printed out the e-mail submitted through the Web-site to gRAFFITI-gAL's feedback forum. Each week she did her level best to answer every letter she recieved, often combining similar queries and offering one cover-all-bases answer. It was the only way to keep up with the volume of mail requesting makeup and accessory advice. Lately, the number one topic was the prom. And Julia had to stop herself from popping off and telling the girls that dolling up to impress a boy was such a waste of time. But she managed to keep her mouth shut and remember that a lot of the dolling up was done to impress -and out-doll- other girls.

Whatever... It was all so pathetically shallow, anyway. Especially when Julia considered the letter she could quote sitting on her desk, the letter whose author wouldn't be going to any prom. The letter that was less of a search for skin-care adive and more a cry for help. Julia wasn't sure she had it in her to answer.

Her office phone, coloured like a piece of coal, chose that minute to ring. The distraction was welcome, even more so when she picked up and heard Kai Hiwatari's voice on the line. 'Bad time?'

'You caught me needing a break, so no.' She needed time and a clear head to answer the letter.

'A break this late?'

Julia glanced to the right of her office door where, hanging on the wall which was papered with a textured black weave, the dark blue clock, three feet long and shaped like a wristwatch, told her she'd been here eleven hours already. 'What can I say? A girl's work is never done... Me and Em are the only two left here...'

Kai raised a brow. 'Dragon Lady?'

She smiled at the nickname and began doodling in black ink on the letter she'd yet to get out of her mind. 'Don't worry! She's been fairly mellow this week.'

'Good.'

Julia sketched a long tongue of flame and quickly changed the subject. 'Saturday night is the gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL ceremony. Then I have the Wild Winter Woman fashion show in another couple of weeks... But it's your turn for a wish, so you better come up with something before Saturday night.'

'I have something.'

She raised a brow not the least bit surprised. 'Great, what is it?'

'A date Friday.'

'A date?' This was his second wish? A date?

'Dinner and a movie.'

'I see...' She started cautiously, drawing the letters K-A-I into the dragon's devouring flame. 'Forgive me for doubting your, but I seem have the idea sunk into my skull that a date with you would be more... original. And then you ask me to dinner and a movie?'

'You'd rather a one-night-stand?'

Julia remembered telling him that the bedrooom was usually part of any date she was offered. She wondered why he hadn't offered. 'Would you take me if I wanted you to?'

Kai was quite for more than a few beats of her heart. 'Repeat that... I'm getting bad cell reception.'

Julia sighed. 'Forget it... Now what about this date?'

'What's wrong?'

She blinked a little confused. 'What're you talking about?'

'You're out of it.'

She sighed. She_ was_ out of sorts, and he's sensed it. Figures... Kai Hiwatari was just one of those people she guessed. Either that or she was like an open book, just waiting for someone to take an interest in what was written on her pages. Either way, it wasn't good. 'I'm working on a letter Mariah forwarded me from the site. A girl, asking for advice, and I'm at a loss.'

'And feeling worthless.'

'Sorry... It just hits a little close to home... and no, I don't want to talk about it!'

'Okay.'

Julia settled back in her chair, swiveled from side-to-side, her bare feet propped on the lower drawer she'd pulled open. 'Thank-you.'

'For what?'

'Being a good sport and not pressing me to talk.'

'I wouldn't.'

'I know.' And she did. He'd told her that the same time he felt the sexual attraction between them... And now she was wanting to know exactly how far that attraction would take them. She wanted to offer him that pleasure... Damn! She was _so_ in over her head. 'It's nice to have a straight-up guy for a change, because the only ones I've met are already taken.'

She heard his intake of breath on the other end of the phone, and realized that must have stung his pride. She really had to quit doing that... Opening mouth and inserting foot. 'Hey, until a few months ago, you were taken.'

'I'm available now.'

'I know.' She said again, trying to stop herself from thinking of him as available. He was the closest thing to the old movie star type of guy she'd ever found. And thinking of Kai as the fulfillment of her fantasy would mean not thinking of him as a friend. And right now, she needed him to be a friend...

No matter how much she was thinking of taking him as a lover...

* * *

Having hung up the phone after agreeing to go out with Kai on Friday night, and having wiped from her monitor every attempt she'd made at a congruous reply to the letter she needed to answer, Julia was staring at the second hand of the clock on the wall when a movement in her doorway brought her head up. 'Em... Hey.' Julia forced herself to smile, when her insides were snarling. The last thing she needed tonight was a snarky confrontation. Especially when the other woman looked like she just pulled her teal-coloured pants and long-sleeved swing top from a dry-cleaner's bag, while Julia own knee-length skirt in blood red desperately needed a good pressing. 

'Do you mind?' Em gestured towards one of the plushed velvet, deep-blue visitor's chairs that faced the room's big desk.

'Sure.' _Well... this is strangely out of character..._ Julia mused. _Since when does Emily stop by for no obvious reason...?_ 'What's up?'

'Honestly? I'm exhausted, but I just can't face going home.' She wilted into the chair, crossed one long leg over the other, dropped her head back against the head rest, and closed her eyes.

Julia was never sure what to expect from the other woman, but this collapse would be about the last thing on the list. 'That looks more like defeat than exhaustion.'

'I need a wife.'

'Is that a proposal?'

Brow arched, Em peered through one eye before closing it again. 'Hardly... I maybe bisexual, but you're hardly my type.'

Oh, but _was_ that feeling mutual. As was the feeling of being overextended. Though a wife wouldn't be Julia's first choice to help shoulder the burden. Maybe and assistant for her assistant, to start. She hadn't realized Em was snowed under as well. Though taking care of her duties as buyer while keeping her eye on Julia's job would make for a heavy workload, wouldn't it? Office politics aside, Julia wouldn't help but wonder... Who _was_ Em's type?

'Tyson Granger.' Emily said suddenly. 'What can you tell me about him?'

Well, now. Julia could tell the other woman any number of things about Tyson, since he'd been part of her circle of friends for years. But she wasn't about to betray her friendship with Hilary. Not until Hilary had cut Tyson loose for good. With her elbows on the arms of her chair, Julia rolled her pen between index fingers and thumbs, swivling from side-to-side in her chair as she did. 'We've working together how long now, Em? Whtout sharing a single detail of our personal lives? Isn't this woman-to-woman bonding coming a bit late in the game?' And had she really just used a sports cliche? OH GOD! She's been around Macheal too much lately!

'I thought we were keeping the woman-to-woman bonding on a need-to-know basis, since need-to-know still seems to define our working relationship as well...' Eyes still closed, Em laced her hands over her middle. 'I've decided I need to know.'

'About Tyson?' Julia asked. 'Or are you backhandedly hinting that we need to work on our professional relationship?'

'About Tyson, yes. But it might help ease the turbulent atmosphere around the office if we agree to calm any brewing storms rather than whipping the waves into a frenzy. Which, I'll admit, I do at times on purpose.'

Shaking her head, Julia snorted, and tossed her pen to the desk where it landed with a light clatter. 'I can't believe you're admitting it!'

'Why not? I'm tired, and it's not getting me anywhere, since you whip the waves right back.'

Even though the constant antagonism was getting on her nerves, Julia wasn't realy to call an unconditional draw. 'Fine. I'm willing to make the effort... If you'll tell me one thing first.' Em raised her head and waited for the two-toned women to finish. 'Why are you after my job?'

For a moment Em met Julia's gaze, then she let her eyes drift shut. Her lips, painted a deep, dark brown, drew wickedly upward. 'Why do you think it's your job I'm after? How do you know I'm after anything? That I'm not just playing mind games?'

'I'm not sure it matters. The end result is that it's making some seriously bad karma beyong that of our working relationship.' Julia had enough going on with Judy and work. She didn't have th energy to waste deflecting this psychich vampiress.

'I'm kidding.' Emily waved her hand. 'Of course I want your job.'

Now that they finally had that out in the open, Julia picked back up her pen again and scratched the tip against the paper on her desk. 'Why mine and not Mariam's? Or MingMing's even?'

'PLEASE! Mariam's is too easy, I think you forget, I'm an expert when it comes to computers too, I just don't have the degrees she has, that's all. Besides, I'm not the least bit interested in technology beyond what it can do for me. And the gift line?' Em gave a careless shrug. 'I can only get excited about half the products there.'

Both were reasons to which Julia could relate. 'And MingMing's lines? You can't tell me you don't get excited about clothes. I've seen what you wear. And, fi nothing else, I hate you for te size of your closet.'

'MingMing's lines are great. And I've working with her and Oliver, one of the otehr boyers, on selecting the products to showcase. But I don't wear the clothes, or listen to the music either, which means I'm not the best choice to grow the lines.

_At least she's honest... _More honest than Julia would've expected. 'And my lines?'

Excitement seemed to jump from Emily's smile into the room's very air. She gripped the chair's armrests so hard, Julia was afraid the naterical would show puncture wounds from her long nails once she let go. 'Gos is in the details, Julia. Have you ever heard that expression? The clothes, the hair!' The orange-haired woman shook her head. 'They're nothing but a foundation. Add the jewelry, the bag, the right scarf or belt and the picture begins to take shape.'

Julia had long aince stopped doodling. Now, listeningto Em spit fire, she sensed a strange soft of epiphany building, the beginning to an end, which made no sense in any light. All she could do was continue to listen.

'But it's what you can do with the face...' Emily paused, as if unsure she could define her enthusiasm, or put her passion into words. Then her gaze cut to Julia's, and she smiled. 'This is going to seen really out of the blue, but what I've wanted more than anything for as along as I can remember is to be a forensic scientist.'

Julia's jaw droped, but when Em looked at her strangely, she forced it shut. 'Next time you're going to blow me away, can you broadcast a warning first?'

'That's the reaction I get every time. I haven't yet decided if I'm insulted or charmed.'

'That reaction shouldn't surprise you. A forensic scientist is about as far removed from a fashion buyer as the sun is from Pluto.' Julia stood with her chair at her back. 'What stopped you from following your dream?'

Em stood with her arms crossed, the thin strap of her purse hanging on her shoulder, that slender finger tapping against her sleve. 'Life, money. Family. Twists and turns and obligations.'

'You still have time, you're only twenty-one.'

'I know. And that's why I model on the side. Using my face and my body to get what I want... I guess that makes me a first-class whore...'

'What're you talking about? It makes you savvy and resourceful. And yeah...' Julia picked up her pen and twisted the barrel. 'I'm starting to see why cosmetics and accessories would right your bell.'

'Exactly. Why not indulge my fascination?' Emily gestured expansively. 'Modeling pays for the credit hours I'm taking. gAL-gEAR pays the bills. Your job would make paying the bill a lot more fun.'

'You know I'm not going to lie down and let you have it.'

'I wouldn't except you to.'

Julia doncurred. 'And I could go to Judy with what you've told me and ask ker to find a place for you in marketing. Or even in costomer service and sales...'

'You could, but you won't, and I don't want you too.' The orange-haired woman moved to the center of the room and stood between the two visitor's chairs, a hand on the back of each. Her eyes flashed, but with respect rather than defiance. 'You're too much like me, Julia. You want to be the one to fight your battles. You don't want to be rescued. You have too much pride, and you're too stubborn. Those traits make us worthy opponents.'

Julia thought of being rescued, thought of fighting her own battles, thought of Kai and wondered what he'd make of her having this long overdue conversation with her nemesis... who wasn't such a firebreathing dragon, after all. 'Opponents make for lousy co-workers. Besides, I wouldn't be very loyal to the company I helped found if I let me position fall into your hands, knowing you think of your time at gAL-gEAR as a temporary career layover.'

One of Em's angled brows lifted. 'Do you plan to stay with gAL-gEAR forever?'

'I can't answer that. But I can say I'll give the company one hundred ten percent while I'm here.'

'As would I. In fact, I'll go for one hundred twenty. I would never give less to any position I'd busted my ass to achieve. Why would you think that I would?'

Frustration and exhaustion battled in both sides of Julia brains. 'Maybe because I haven't gotten to know you.'

Emily tapped her index fingers against the headrests of the chairs. 'Should we call a truce than? You accept that I'm not going anywhere and I accept that you're not going to let me get away with anything?'

'Those are rather broad terms, don't you think?'

'Perhaps, but now we know better where the other stands. We're not flying blind. Maybe we can even collaborate.' Em's mouth twisted with ironic humor. 'Down the road, of course.'

'No.' Julia said as inspiration struck. 'Not down the road... Now.'

'Now? As in the moment?'

Julia picked up the letter and handed it to Emily. 'Here's your chance to put your money where your mouth is.' Looking startled for a moment, the older woman set her purse in one of the chairs. Em dropped into the other seat and began to read.

_Dear gRAFFTIT-gAL_

_I need your advice please._

_All of my life I've known that I'm ugly._

_I see my reflection when I pass the mirror, though I try my best not to look._

_I used to think it didn't matter to my parents what I looked like._

_I used to think they loved me anyways._

_But now my mom's passed away and my father's remarried._

_They're arguing over which boarding school to send me to and where I'm going to live during holidays._

_My stepmother hates me and my father doesn't seem to want me anymore._

_I have a stepsister now and she's so pretty._

_My father seems to love her so much._

_He even takes her out to dinner one a week._

_That's something he'd never do with me, even when mom asked him to._

_I know that if I looked better, I wouldn't be so embarrasing to have around._

_If you could tell me which products I could use, and which of your colours would make my face appear less disgusting, I'd be so grateful._

_Maybe them my father would love me again._

_Love Katlyn Murphy_

Emily slumped back in the chair, hung her arms over the sides and let the letter fall to the floor. 'You have to answer this, don't you? Where do you even start?'

'I was thinking of starting with her father and stepmother.'

'Can I come along? My hands haven't gave been registered as dealy weapons, but we can lie and say that they have.'

Julia leaned back in her chair and studied the woman who sat on the other side of her desk, wondering if Emily Tompson might actually prove to be a more formidable friend than she'd ever been a foe. 'Sure... I think I could use the help with this one.'

* * *

Sorry to cut it short, but the chapter was getting to long! OMG!!! LOL my hands are tired of writing!

The date will have to wait until the next chapter... Em and Julia conversation was longer than I thought it would be... but don't worry! Once the date starts, so will the romance!! YAY

well I hope you all enjoyed

Dong-Chun-Mei


	10. Looking To Be Loved

Chapter 10 OMG!!! I can't believe it!! Maybe I'll actually finish a story for once! YAY

You know the drill so please enjoy!!!

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Dinner could've gone any better, Kai decided, and made a mental note to thank Ray and Mariah for blackmailing him into putting this together. They'd eaten at Oliver's earlier, before the usual Friday night rush hit the combinaton French cafe/European restaurant. The tiny white Christmas lights wrapped around the tree branch jutting out from one of the restaurant's walls had flickered in Julia's eyes, making them sparkle. Christmas already? Where had the time gone?

She'd dressed in her usual colour tonight, black, though this time it was accompanied by a white V-neck, long sleeved shirt under her patchworked overhall jumper. The getup gave a bad-ass attitude to her already punk demeanor. The part that had him lifting a brow, when she'd answered her door at four o'clock sharp, had been that she wore knee-high boots of black and white that matched.

She appeared to be a cocky little chick from head to toe. Kai knew differently, and took into account that her hard outer shell was beginning to crack when she was around him. Her side of the phone call, when he'd called to ask her out, had been proved that fact.

He was also beginning to better understand this deal she'd been willing to make... Her three nights for his three wishes... She was into some serious reflection about her job with gAl-gEARL and has wanted to see herself though the eyes of an outsider, check out the view from someone who had no stake in the company. He has a nagging feeling that what was going on with Julia was more than keeping to Judy's straight and narrow. He just couldn't yet put his finger on what it was. Though he's come close a couple of weeks ago when he'd had her cornered and vuneralbe in her office.

When he'd arrived at the open house, Julia's been hiding out in her office, something he knew for a fact wouldn't sit well with the boss. But she'd seemed too caught up in whatever she'd been thinking to care. And then she'd blasted out of nowhere with all that crap and cocky attitude. One minute she was lashing out like a rabid mut, and the next she was cowering away from him like a scared puppy. Someone had hurt her badly, and it was clear she thought he was going to push her back into that situation again.

It would be a cold day in hell before that happened. In fact, he'd wanted to do anything but hurt her. He'd almost come undone just watching her face that day. One more of those breathy shudders on her part, and he wouldn't have been responcible for his actions.

No... She wasn't the tough cookie she'd been trying -for as long as he'd known her- to convince everyone, including herself, she was. He saw the scared little girl she trapped behind her walls. Her scars went deep, maybe just as deep as his went... and that terrified him. He was falling for someone as mess-up as he was had him wanting to run scared. Too bad Kai Hiwatari never ran from anything... because he wanted to right now more than he ever had...

Her outer shell wasn't the only one starting to fall.

* * *

The film retrospective started at seven, and with the theatre being right down the block from the restaurant, they'd been able to relax, and enjoy one another's company during dinner... the way a couple should relax and enjoy when out on a date. This surprised both of them. It wasn't too often Julia found herself interrested in what her date had to say, and Kai found he wasn't glancing at his watch wonder how long he had to wait before he could ditch the latest chick Ray, Tyson or Max'd tried to set him up with.

And this was a date, no matter how much she reminded him this was just part of their three-for-three deal. Julia might've complained that dinner, a movie, and back to the bedroom was a lousy idea of a good time, but Kai was planning to make sure he proved two out of three could make for a hell of an evening given the right company. And hopefully, she thought he was the right company...

Slipping into the theatre's seat, he glanced beside him at Julia's dimly lit face, her eyes were still closed. Before he knew what was happening, Kai found himself riding a power wave of emotion that had nothing to do with lust, and everything to do with the beautiful woman sitting beside him. He'd never felt this way about a woman before... He'd never let himself feel this way about a woman before... So what was so special about Julia Fernandez that she'd been able to find a place in his heart without even trying?

He shook his head, pushing that thought to the back of his mind. He would deal with it later. Tonight was all for Julia... Not for gAL-gEAR... Not for her career... Not for her potty mouth... Or her problems with Emily Tompson... Tonight was for the woman she was... The woman who needed to be reminded of everything she had to offer a man besides her knock-out body.

'Can I open my eyes now or are you going to keep me waiting all night?'

Kai caught himself laughing, actually laughing! He's forgotten he'd told her not to look at the theater marguee, the notice of times and listings or the movie posters hanging in the lobby. He'd even kept his hand over her eyes part of the time, just so he knew she wasn't peeking. It was possible that she'd heard the ads and knew exactly what she was about to see. If that was the case she was doing a bang-up job of hiding her excitement. He knew how much she loved this movie.

Julia's lashes fluttered and swept up, her gaze wide and expectant. Kai relaxed a little, and smirked. She moved her head back as if to pull him into focus when what she really wanted was to see those dimples he got when he smiled. 'Having me dependant on you gives you warm fuzzies doesn't it?' His smirk grew into a wide, devilish grin. 'I would think clinging females would be a major pain in the ass for you.'

'They are.'

'Careful Kai.' She warned. 'Your mother's female. Show a little respect to the poor woman!'

Impossible, considering he'd never known his mother... But that was a subject best avoided. 'Give me popcorn.'

She slapped his hand away when he reached toward her lap. 'You said you didn't want any popcorn! That's why you bought the Moca-Chocolate-Fudge Ice-cream!'

Yeah... but that was before the bucket of popcorn had been sitting were it was sitting... 'Changed my mind.'

'Humph.' She muttered, then shushed him as the lights went down and the curtain rose.

When the original preview trailer for _The Philadelphia Story_ began to play on the screen and Julia got her first glimpse of Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant (her idol), she seemed to forget all about Kai's hand sneeking into her popcorn tub. She didn't even appear to be breathing. She didn't move a single muscle, even the ones it took to blink, and Kai would've noticed if she batted an eye. His gaze was focused on her face, not on the black-and-white action of the trailer. And then she smiled a killed smile that hit him right where it hurt.

She was beautiful! A fact that he'd realized for as long as he'd known her, but for some reason had never fully appreciated it until the past few weeks in her company. Even now, with only the flickering film for light, he could see what he'd been missing.

It was her vulnerability that was doing him in. The soft edge to her hard insistence on continually busting his chops -and those of anyone who dared to butt heads with her.

She tried so hard to be tough. And she was tough. He'd seen her play volleyball. He'd seen her stand up to Em. But he also saw what he imagined her girlfriends saw... the traits that drew their loyality, affection, and solidified the friendships that had endured not only the years, but the stresses and hardships of childhood, working together, and building the business of gAL-gEAR.

Those were the traits that brough him back even after it seemed she'd whacked him off at the knees. He'd never had any woman do that to him before... It was a hard blow to his pride. Damn... she had a lot going for her... She also had just as much, if not more, going against her. He couldn't help but think that her attitude about men was to blame for it all... more specifically, it was the man who distoryed her fath in the oppoiste sex that was to blame.

He needed a strong woman at his side, and Julia never failed to show him she was just that, but he didn't need to fall for a woman struggling with as much baggage as he was.

Tyson was the one who went for damselss in distress, not him.

A soft noise brought his attention back to the movie. _An Affair to Remember..._ He thought the marguee had said that's what this one was. Apparently a classic, though he wasn't much into these old productions. He turned to Julia, figuring she'd know, and found that she'd grown prefectly still at his side, her hand hovering over the bucket of popcorn in her lap, her eyes wide and unblinking as she stared straight ahead. And then he heard it again, a cross between a sniffle and a sob, so tiny, nearly imperceptible. He had not seen the hitch in her chest he might no have realized she was the one who was crying.

Wait...

Julia was _crying_?!

What the hell was there to cry about?! Oh, he wasn't up to dealing with a crying female. Nope. He found it hard enough to deal with his sister when she'd cried as a infant! What was he supposed to do with a grown woman bawling her eyes out?!

He didn't have to wory for long because she cuddled into him and tucked her head into the crook of his neck. Awkwardly, he shifted in the old-fashioned seat and leaned toward her, slipping his arm around her shoulder as he did. She was cold, that's why she cuddled. He rubbed his palm up and down her thinly covered arm. She only cuddled deeper into his side.

The sappy movie was to blame for the crying coming out of nowhere! What else could it be? ...Not that he'd paid much attention to what was going on between Cary Grant and the actress on screen. But now it looked like someone had died, and there was an old lace shawl that meant something to Grant's chacter...

Kai brough his lips close to Julia's head and whispered. 'Sorry.'

She looked up, her expression one of confusion, her eyes wide and wet and intoxicating in the inconsistent lighting thrown by the film. 'For what?!' Her question was mouthed more than spoken.

'The movie's making you blubber.'

'Don't be an idiot!' She reached over and cupped his jaw, her soft touch at odds with her name-calling. 'I'm blubbering because I love this movie! It's sad and romantic and... sappy.'

Romantic he didn't know about, since he hadn't been paying much attention to the story unfolding on-screen. But even now what was happening with the movie was nothing compared to what was happening here, with Julia's nose nuzzling the skin just below his ear.

It was a soft nuzzling. A gentle brush of her warm skin to his cooler, rougher cheek. He shivered at a touch from her slightly parted lips, she cuddled even closer. 'You're missing the movie.' He muttered.

She murmured something in responce but he couldn't hear it.

He pulled back to look into her eyes, to see if she'd stopped crying, if she was using his cheek to hide her tears, or just as a toy for her lips. If he hadn't been sitting against the wall, with a dozen legs between his seat and the isle, he would've popped up and out for a soda he didn't need. What he saw cracked open, with frightening ease, his vow to avoid all damsels in distress. It bashed his resolve to leave her at her front door at the end of the night. Damn, he was in trouble...

As it was, he couldn't pull his gaze away from her face. And when she raised her head, her eyes questioning, her lips trembling and seeking, he lowered his mouth to hers. It was the frist time they'd kisses like this, and he knew he'd remember it forever because she tasted like salt and warm buttered popcorn.

They'd once shared a kiss meant for show while under the influence of wise-cracks, a dare, and too much tequila. But this wasn't that kiss. This kiss was real, possessing more true intimacy than the sexual encounters they'd shared.

Her lips were soft and tentatively searching, as if she wasn't sure he'd want to accept the sweet offer of her mouth. As if she was afraid he'd turn her away. Had some other man turned her away from the love she was so clearly seeking?

He'd never known a woman so contradictory, so confounding, or a woman he wanted to kiss more. He settled his mouth over hers and answered her unspoken question. The kiss was nothing more than a brush of contact, a moment of simplicity and innocence. But it stabbed Kai in the gut with its sharp insistence that simplicity and innocence weren't what they appeared to be when it came to Julia Fernandez.

Julia had never been innocent. He knew virtually nothing about her past, but he tasted her strong desire to be wanted, her deep, piercing need for acceptance. And he knew, as her tongue tocuhed his lips and her mouth opened under his, he knew.

It didn't matter that she claimed to know men, that she professed to have experience in relationships, that she said she knew all about romance. Kai knew better. He knew the truth. Her mouth told him the difference. With the gentle, rubbing press of her lips to his, and the tender caress of her hands as the bunched into his hair, her mouth told him.

She was simply looking to be loved.

* * *

_The Phiadelphia Story_ is an amazing movie, even though it was created in 1940. It made me laugh so hard, and _An Affiar to Remeber_ is just as good. You'll cry though it. T.T I love it so much. If you everh have the chance to watch it, please do.

XD Kai's a popcorn thief! YAY! LOL

Well I hope you all enjoyed the tenth chapter. Next time... things get a little tense at the gLOWING gIRL conpetition...

Dong-Chun-Mei


	11. gAL gEAR gLOWING gIRL

Well... finally chapter 11... sorry I've haven't updated lately, I haven't really found time to type...

Hopefully this chapter will make up for that! You know the drill, I don't own beyblade, nor do I have a spellcheck... so if you wanna flame let me get a bucket of water first m'kays?

well enjoy!!!!

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The ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel looked like it had been pulled straight from the web-pages of for the following night's gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL competition. The hotel's event organizers had worked with the partners to decorate in the company's colour scheme of lime-green, orange, navy blue, and gold.

Two tablecloths in contrasting colors draped every table. Centerpieces had been designed with bright green foliage, and a cluster of hothouse blooms in orange, gold and blue. Confetti in the shape of a tiny **G** littered the floor, the tables, and even the chairs. Julia knew she'd be shaking bits of it from the knee-length hemline of her black dress for the entire evening. Damn Judy for making her wear the darn thing!

Sitting at a huge circular table for twelve, she flipped through the program introducing the finalists vying for the title of gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL. Marketing had done a super job putting together the souvenir brochure for the evening's event.

All six of the fianlists had appeared onstage earlier to deliver their introductions, along with an oral presentation detailing the influence of fashion on their lives. Each girl had since returned to model the formal ensemble she had not only designed but constucted from the inside out. Whether a dress, or a conbination of separates, every seam, every buttonhole, and every piece of trim had to be the work of the contestant. Even the accessories had to be handcrafted. Footwear was the only exception, though each of the finalists had extended her creativity to her feet as well.

Now all that was left to be done was the scoring and the tabulation. After that, the first ever gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL would be crowned!

All-in-all, Julia was totally amazed.. Amazed and more than a little bit envious. Not by the girls' imaginations and talent, but by the fact that here they were, fourteen or fifteen years old, knowing exactly what they wanted to do with their lives! At that age, being forced to study fashion, all she'd known was what she wanted to do with her life was never going to happen.

She wasn't sure about her partners, but she definitely had a particular favourite among the girls. A favourite who probably wouldn't win the competition once the scores were tabulated. But this girl -her name was Queen- touched Julia's heart in ways she'd thought herself untouchable. Queen's talent for fashion wasn't in question. She had all the right answers, as well as the body, and the face. There was one thing, however, that Julia was certain would keep the girl from walking away with the highest score.

And that was her demeanor. Her slacker-speak, and her punk-ass attitude. An attitude that was nothing but show, a cover for her insecurity, an act to draw attention from her lack of self-esteem. Julia recongized so much of herself in Queen it hurt.

Oblivious to the distress churning in Julia's stomach, the rest of her tablemates chatted away quietly, the five partners pouring over the score sheets in the portfolios they'd had now for over a week, their men waiting the arrival of the evening's dessert.

In addition to Kai, who sat to her right, Julia shared the table in front of the stage with Mariam, MingMing, Judy, Hilary and Mariah, along with their dates. It was sort of a boy, girl, boy, girl reenactment of the scaverger hunt pairings.

Mariah, of course, sat as close as she could to Ray without actually climbing into his lap. MingMing had brought Daichi Sumeragi, who Julia really did like and thought perfect for Ming, and Hilary had invited Tyson's brother Hitoshi Granger... which was just asking for trouble, but hey Tyson deserved it! The last two pairings, however, had Julia and the others shaking their heads more than Hilary and Hitoshi ever had...

Judy's date for the evening was Samul Tate, which wasn't so strange considering he was her husband. But tonight they'd barely spoken. Mr. Tate looked mad as hell, and Judy totally pissed off and as uncomfortable in his company as the rest of the table was with the still sickly-looking Mariam and Judy's son, Max Tate.

Not only because Judy and Max barely spoke to one another these days since Max had told his mother Mariam was pregnant, which had made for an awkward dinner for all, but because at the table behind, Em sat with Tyson Granger... Julia wanted to scream at all three pairs.

'You're quiet Princess.'

Julia looked up at Kai just as he presented her with a bite of lemon sorbet the waiter had delivered, along with the rest of the guests' chocolate mousse. She accepted his offering, trying to remember when she'd told him of her preference for lemon desserts.

Then she realized five pairs of female eyes were trained on her. She thought about sticking out her tongue but knew that exposing a mouthful of smeared, melting lemon wouldn't earn her any brownie points from Judy. So she smiled sweetly and went back to marking her score sheet.

'Talk Princess.' He'd been calling her that since their date last night.

'I hate the new nickname.' Julia slammed the portfolio against her thigh and poked Kai in the shoulder with her pencil's sharp point. 'Why do you have to call me that? Couldn't you come up with something better?'

Kai pushed his chair back a foot from the table, braced his elbow on his thigh, and leaned into her space. 'It fits.'

'It does not fit!' She muttered, unsure why she was so irritated tonight. It definately had something to do with Kai tenderness at the movies last night... but she didn't feel like analysing her feelings right now. 'I'm not some goody-goody little spoiled brat. That would be MingMing.'

'Hey!' The electric blue-haired partner shouted. Julia chose to ignore her.

Kai ran his index finger up and down the tender skin of her bare inner arm. Julia shivered because she was cold, not because his touch was nothing more than the barest whisper, or because his knuckle brushed the swell of her breast! She finally pulled away when he kissed her cheek. He was just being a cocky ass now. 'Think of another nickname if you have to use one at all.'

'Peaches.'

'No.'

'Lamb chop.'

'I'm not food! If you hungry order more dessert.'

'Barbie doll.'

'That's MingMing's nickname.'

'Jewel.'

She considered the expression. 'If that's the best you can come up with... okay.'

A devilish smirk played across his lips. This time he scooted his chair a foot closer to hers. Eyes half-mast, she cast a glance to the side. 'Are you trying to sit in my lap? Because it's absence that makes the heart grow fonder.'

Kai ignored her comback and drpaed an arm across the back of her chair. 'We're live right?'

'Yep.' She indecated the score sheet bound into the back of the portfolio. 'Now that the girls have all done their thing, we grade them on a complicated point system. The results will be compiled by our accountant while everyone finishes dessert. So, if you don't mind...'

Tapping the portfolio still open to Queen's profile, Kai leaned farther into Julia's space. He smelled warm and confortable. Julia suddenly hated herself because she wanted to burrow into his body beneath the blankets on her bed. 'She's your favourite.'

She could barely think to answer him for fighting the urge to tickle his neck with her nose. Why did he always make her think about sex? And not just about having sex... But enjoying sex... Wanting his body because no other body would do...

Last night after that kiss, she would've given him anything. But he hadn't even asked. What kind of guy kissed like that, and then didn't ask for sex?! 'I like this one, yes. And no... It'd not because she has an eye for colours. She has good taste too. She knows what to wear with her body tones. That's all part of the picture.'

'There's more.' He reached for Queen's picture and twilted it between in fingers. 'You keep coming back to her.'

Julia wasn't sure she could give Kai a coherent reply without revealing her entire life story. He didn't need to know that she and Queen shared a motherless upbringing. Or that the identity Queen found in fashion, a fifteen-year-old Julia had found in volleyball, music and her friends. And now here was this girl, on the brink of realizing her dream, her father in the auidence looking nervous and ready to puke, while Julia had followed the same path with one hundred precent resentment for being forced into a field of study she had no interest.

Julia had the career this girl would kill for, and she couldn't have care less when she was Queen's age. How was she supposed to explain _that_ to Kai?

Pencil in hand, she lifted his fingers, which now hovered too near her cleavage, and returned his hand to his lap. Then, leaning forward, she passed the her portfolio and completed score sheet across the table to Judy. Sitting back, Julia slid a sideways glance Kai's way. 'You're getting awfully touchy-feely.'

'I'm a dedicated escort.'

'Dedicated to me?' She was ready to knock him down a couple pegs now. 'That's why you were sharing your affections with any woman you could get your hands on the other night at the Go Shoot Factory?' This sudden interrigation had Kai looking like he was ready to explode. That didn't stop the words from tumbling from her mouth, however. 'The information was passing on to me by someone who saw you there sharing your... dedicaton.'

Because MingMing was all the way on the other side of the table, Julia cut her gaze to Mariah, the next biggest blabbermouth in the group. Kai turned to the pinkette on his other side. 'Mariah.'

She turned away from Ray. 'Yes Kai?'

'Stop spilling your guts.'

Mariah shifted her position, and studied Kai through slitted golden orbs. 'I haven't been spilling anything. MingMing, however, has been giving her the truth.'

'Really?'

'Yes really.' Mariah shot back, obviously gearing up to give Kai an earful.

Julia made a half-hearted attempt to rain in her pink-haired best friend. 'It's okay, Riah. He's not going to listen to you any more than he listens to me.'

Kai's piercing gaze cut from Mariah to Julia and back again. 'Explain.'

By this time, Ray (who'd been listening to the heated conversation) had his face buried in his hands and was shaking his head sorrowfully. Mariah ignored him and lifted her chin proudly. 'Julia filled us in on your role in her grand plan to repair her reputation.'

'So?'

The female neko-jin rolled her eyes. 'So?! What good is your arrangement going to do her if she'd the only one keeping it exclusive?!'

'Exclusive?' This time Kai's head made a small tilt in the brunette's direction. His eyes burned with pent-up fury.

She started to tell him that if he'd had half a brain he would've understood that her plan wouldn't do a bit of good if he continued to date. But she didn't want him to know she'd given him that much credit. Neither did she want him to know that thinking of him with any other woman raised her hackles.

She didn't get a chance to tell him anything, however, because he'd turned to Mariah, and offered an 'Excuse us' Now he had his hand wrapped around Julia's upper arm, and a look in his eye that dared her to give him any shit.

When he insisted, she got to her feet, because she didn't have much of a choice. He held her so tightly! But the primary reason she did as he ordered was because her body refused to tell him no. Her nerves were firing heated rounds from the point of their innocent skin-to-skin contact to other places where she remembered the touch of his fingers.

'Julia?' Judy called from across the table. 'The results will be back in fifteen minutes! Don't be late!'

Nodding, Julia opened her mouth to lay the blame for her sudden departure right where it belonged. But the guilty party took full responsibiblity with his devilish good looks and icy charm. 'I'll have her back.' Then Kai propelled Julia from the table to the exit at the rear of the rectangular room.

Once out in the hallway, he slid his hold down her arm to her hand, pulling her along behind him as he glanced at alcoves, blind turns, dead ends, and tried every door he passed. 'Damn you Kai! Slow down before I break my ankle in these damn heels!' But he was intent.

Julia sensed the desperation and anger in his grip, and in his silence. The rapid beat of her heart, however, was less about adrenaline and more about anticipation, awareness, and the arousing slide of his hand as he pressed into her palm with his fingers. Her body pulsed, and even more than she wanted to jerk him to a stop and demand answers, she wanted to wait... to find out what he could possibly want so badly that he was turning into this wild man.

The unclocked door he finally found opened into a marrow mechanical room. He flipped the light switch; the bulb sputtered and buzzed. He pulled her inside, locked the door, and stared down at her so intently she back up, hitting the door with one heel, then the other. His breathing was rough and laboured as he dragged a hand through his blue hair.

The thrill of the unknown had Julia's own chest rising and falling hard. 'What the hell-'

The hand he slammed into the door beside her head cut her off.

It was then she ralized Kai Hiwatari wasn't just pissed... he was fuming...

* * *

Told you things were going to get tense. Kai's patience for Julia have finally drained. So... will she go running from his fury? Or will she have the guts to match it with her own.

We'll soon see...

Next time... heh heh heh... LEMON!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Dong-Chun-Mei


	12. Heated Tension

YAY another chapter done!!! Man. I start school soon... then things are going to be difficult to update... Hopefully I'll get a few more chapters up before then...

well you know the drill so please

Enjoy!!!

* * *

'Explain.'

Julia narrowed her eyes, jerked her chin higher, and her shoulders straighter. She pressed her body into the solid door at her back. She needed the sense of being grounded so she wouldn't haul off and slapped Kai silly. Whatever was about to happen between them was going to have a more substantial impact than a house of cards tumbling down.

'What's to explain? Mariah said it pretty clearly. Your whoring around isn't going to do much in the way of helping my reputation. I thought you would have figured that much out on your own! But I guess I should've spelled it out for you!'

'Whoring around?!' His jaw visibly taut, his eyes narrowed to irate slits, Kai raised the intensity in his voice, though it remained a coarse whisper. 'Hanging out with friends is whoring around? This coming from the woman who dates everything in pants?!'

'Not everything in pants...' She corrected him, slightly pleased to see her comment gouge and stick.

Kai's eyes burned. 'Bullshit Julia! We're not dating... We're not exclusive... I never signed on to be a fucking monk!'

Julia crossed her arms over her chest. Something was going on here that was way beyond her understanding. But it was clear Kai was in no mood to calm down and explain. Quite frankly, she was well equipped to cover her own ass. 'You know, let's just forget this whole thing. I don't know why I even thought it would work. I've never been able to count on anyone but myself, so why should this time be any different?'

She tired to move, to step away from the door and leave the room... leave Kai and his problems here where he could bang, pound, piss, and moan about to his heart's content. But he refused to budge, standing in front of her, hovering, doing what he could in the way of intimidation... Which didn't do him much good at all. Julia didn't do intimidation.

But she was curious and, though she hated to admit it, concerned. Not for herself, but for Kai. This wasn't like the Kai she knew at all. And she knew him better than any man whose company she'd kept for any length of time. He'd never lose his cool like this.

'Look, Kai. I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but I've got a program to get back to. So, if you don't mind... oh, wait. Even if you do mind... Get your attitude the hell out of my way!'She shoved against his chest.

He didn't say a word.. He didn't move away... If anything, he leaned in closer, so close Julia realized his irises were actually rings of red in at least half-dozen shades, and that his pupils were pitch-black and dilated with heat and arousal.

An arousal that she felt like a kick to her gut. He wanted her, desperately. He had to have her now, right now, here in this moment. 'Kai?'

His head came down. He pressed his forehead against hers, and leaned his weight into both hands braced against the door above her shoulders. 'What do you want from me Julia?'

What she wanted was for him to pull of her panties, drag his pants to his knees, and fill her like she'd never been filled before. Other than that, she wasn't sure what she wanted. She didn't know if she wanted to date him, to be exclusive... That would be letting down her walls, and showing him who she really was beneath the surface of his princess. She didn't know if she had what it took to do that.

What she did know was that her body had never hummed with this much electicity. Nerves sizzled on the outside of her skin. Kai's breath was warm on her cheek, his lips soft where they barely touched the corner of her mouth, resting there, as he was, waiting, patiently waiting for her answer, with his body so taut she feared he would snap if she touched him. She touched him anyway, laying both palms on his chest, and kissing the corner of his mouth teasingly. His entire body quivered and stiffened. She felt his restraint.

And then his mouth was on hers, This was not the kiss he'd given her at the movies... or any kiss she'd ever imagined Kai giving. His lips pulled at hers, and his tongue demanded. He hooked one forearm behind her neck to hold her still. The kiss wasn't soft, but ravenous, as if he'd gone hungry longer than his body could stand. His mouth was firm, his tongue hard, stroking against hers... measuring hers.

She returned his every movement, stroke for aggressive stroke, devouring his mouth, drawing his lip, one at a time, between hers, and nipping lightly with her teeth. She couldn't believe how much she suddenly wanted this man...

This one man... Her hands kneaded his chest, her mouth searcing. Kai groaned, the rumble rolling out of his body, and into Julia's mouth.She rubbed her hands across his chest, pressing with the pads of her fingers, and the heels of her palms.

Kai's shudder and hiss of breath were music to her ears. She played him harder. She pressed in massaging circles until Kai buried his face in the crook of her neck, ran his hands down her back to the tops of her thighs, and lifted her from the floor. He backed farther into the long, narrow room. She wrapped her legs around his hips and held on.

Truning, he set her on a low tabletop littered with nuts, bolts, and scraps of electrical wire. She leaned back, lowering her upped body toward the surface of the table, then bracing her weight on her elbows behind her.

What he did then had Julia almost coming undone. He reached back with one hand to hold her heels together at the small of his back. His other hand crawled up her stomach and squeezed her breat roughly. All she could do was close her eyes and let her head fall back.

Kissing her neck, he yanked her panties down her legs and tossed them over his shoulder. She ached and burned to be with him. She couldn't stand the suspence any more. She wanted to beg, but bit her tongue, focusing on the warmth of his breath on her skin instead, and the pressure points where his fingers grapped her thighs so brutally, they bruised.

He tongue played around the skin of her jaw and down her throat. He rubbed one hand across the knotted nerves in her stomach, making her moan. Her pleasure bordered on pain. She could hardly stand his touch. It was too much...! It wasn't enough...! So, she touched herself, moving her hands to ber breasts, pinching at her nipples, which had grown pebble hand. Squeezing the mounds of flesh, tipped her head back farther, lifted her hips to his, and moaned.

Kai stopped. She sensed his intention even before he moved and covered her hands on her breasts with his own. He didn't even hesitate, but tugged down the bodice of her dress until her breats spilled free. Then his tounge was there, and his lips, sucking, stroking, nipping while his hands pinched and squeezed. He teased one nipple with light flicks of his tongue, and then the other. She raised up, wanting more.

The teasing wasn't what she needed. She needed it hard. She needed it rough. She lifted her hips, buckling against him. Kai goraned deep in his gut, the sound vibrating against her skin. And when he tugged sharply on the nipple he held in his mouth, she swore she felt her heart pull tight. 'If you don't loose the pants soon, I'm going to kill you.'

Kai didn't say a word as he stood back. Julia watched as he unbuckled his belt. He freed the catch on his on his pants, and pulled his zipper down. His boxers were a sexy black designer cut, and not doing him a bit of good as he sprung free as soon as given a chance. He shucked the clothing down his thighs and came at her. 'Hold on.' Was all he said.

_What in the hell am I supposed to hold on to?!_ But then it did matter, because he filled her with one long stroke.

Julia cried out, and he stopped, his length stretching her open. She thought she was going to die. She was aching to move, but she stayed still, savoring the feeling of that first filling thrust, and the anticipation of what else was to come. Then he began to move, slowly, stroking, pressing into her until she screamed. 'Kai! Stop teasing me!'

He looked into her eyes then, his diamond-hard, flinty, and as hot as she'd ever seen a man's be. His mouth was pulled into a grim straight line, as if the struggle for control cost him plenty. He grasped her thighs, and then let himself go, his hips driving forward again and again.

Julia came silenty because she couldn't wait anymore. Shudders tore though her. Her hands clenched. Her head thrashed. Her hips lifted, crushing her body as hard as she could to his. With each contraction of her orgasm, she gripped Kai erection, working to pull him farther inside, wishing she could get either of her hands behind him to urge him deeper inside her. But she needed her arms for balance, her bottom was barely on the edge of the table, and her legs around Kai's hips were all that kept her from tumbling to the floor.

His eyes narrowed, burning with the knowledge that she'd taken her pleasure, and taken it with him. Knowing he could take his time, take her over the edge again. That he could arouse her further, heighten the thrumming of nerves already exposed and raw.

He slowed then, pulling all the way out until only his head remained buried inside. He pressed forward in one long, leisurely motion until he was fully engulfed. He repeated the process again and again, each time increasing the speed of his thrusts. Each time hitting her limit sooner, harder... until he pumped with the stroke of a piston.

She hadn't counted on the return of her arousal, but seeing the way he drove himself into her, the way he wanted her, the way he couldn't wait any longer... She sobbed. Spasms rocked her body to the rhythem of Kai's thrusts. A gutteral goran ripped from his throat and he came hard. Julia felt the warmth of his release fill her, and shuddered as the last twinges ran through her.

Her legs slow slipped from Kai's waist, her knees sliding down to hook over his hands when he grabbed her legs. He didn't back away but kept his fingers pressed against her warm skin, imprinting her legs with harsh bruises. He remained hard and buried in her body.

Panting, she tired to gather the shattered pieces of her sanity, only to moan when he started sucking on her nipple again. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog from it, even as her muslces clenched around him. 'Stop.' She hissed.

"Answer my question.'

Question? When had he asked her a question? 'Remind me, as I seem to have lost my mind, what was that question?'

His face remained a hard mask. 'What do you want from me?'

How was she supposed to answer that when he had his head buried between her breats? Every time she moved she lfft his possession, felt him growing hard inside her again. 'I want us to be exclusive until we finish the agreement.'

Satisfied, Kai eased his body free, and eased her legs from his supporting hold. He slipped an arm behind her and helped her to sit on the edge of the table. He adjusted his clothing, and looked her in the eyes. Julia could barely move. Her back ached, her hip joints screamed, her innder thighs burned, and her breasts smarted where he bit her. Her conscience stung, and any control she'd one had, had long since ceased to exist.

Working her dress down over her hips, her straps back over her shoulders, she slid from the edge of the table onto shaky feet, stodd, and smothed her hair. She prayed for Kai to keep his mouth shut and leave without saying another word. For once, her prayers were answered.

He put his hand on the doorknob, paused, and turned to meet her defiant gaze for a long moment. An awkward silence lanced between them until he stepped into the hall, and reached back for the door, his gaze still hard.

For long moments after Kai left, Julia stared at the closed door. But no matter how hard she pressed a hand to her heart, she couldn't stop it from fluttering foolishly in her chest.

* * *

Well... LEMON DONE!! Don't worry there's going to be more to come! Just you all wait!

Well I hope you all enjoy, I had so much fun writing this smexy chapter! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!

O.o... anyways... review please?

Dong-Chun-Mei


	13. After Effect

Chapter 13! OMG this is soooooooooooooo coming along awesomely! I'm having a blast with this story! I think it's my favourite to write so far!

YAY and well... enjoy!!!

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Julia refused to panic. She remembered having rushed past a ladies' room during Kai's earlier mad dash for privacy. She scurried there now, before anyone could see her. Before Kai, who was pacing the hallway -thankfully at the far end, in the other direction, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, and looking down at the floor- could say anything about what had just happened, and add to her regrets.

Or to her hopes.

Her face was an absolute mess. Her lipstick was completely gone, or else smeared across her cheeks and chin. Her foundation was damaged beyond any repair she could make with a compact, and what was left of her blush was a joke. Her mascara had fared better, though it left her with a serious case of racoon eyes... and she hadn't even gotten to her hair!

Her brush, along with her make-up, was in a tiny black bag she'd left hanging on her chair, thinking she wouldn't be gone from the ballroom for more than a minute or two. She'd never expected to find herself dragged off like a cave woman by a caveman.

She stared at her reflection, thankful the ladies' room was empty at the moment. She couldn't face seeing anyone just yet. It was hard enough to face herself. What she'd just done was exactly what she'd promised herself, and sworn to Judy, wouldn't happen.

She'd jeopardized the very career she was trying to save by walking out on the gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL awards for a quickie. And she couldn't begin to understand why. She never went into a sexual relationship without using her head before using her body. An sex, as a rule, came in one of two flavours: Sinfully Sweet Fun or Power Trip Delicious.

The intimacy she and Kai had just shared was beyond her ability to define. Her head hadn't factored into any part of their joining, yet she'd felt more than bodily connected. She feared she'd put her heart on the line. Kai's actions had cut past her walls right to her bare bone, and continued to sting.

Experience had taught her not to involve emotion, and to avoid give and take. Giving was too tied into giving _up_ for her comfort. After so many years of being told what to wear, how to behave, where to focus her studies, she was finally _in control of her life_. Every, single aspect of her life, an no one was going to take that away by convincing her they loved her and, because they loved her, knew what she needed, what she wanted, or who she was. She wasn't going to be punished for being herself any longer.

She turned on the faucet, the rush of water a drowning sound ridding her of old memories, and those still fresh, still sticky, and all too new. Damn Kai Hiwatari and his sexy body!!!!!

Knowing she wasn't going to be going anywhere until she did what she could to fix her face, she splashed warm water onto it and, resigned to using liquid hand soap, had just started scrubbing her forehead when she heard the bathroom door open.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head, opened her eyes just enough to peak through the bubbles, and got a glimpse of Mariam Talbot in the mirrow. _At least it's not Judy or Kai... _Julia thought, hoping to aviod facing both of them any time soon.

She finished cleaning her face, then rinsed her skin free of soap, and rinsed it again. Mariam hopped up onto the far end of the counter, handing Julia several pieces of paper towel once she'd turned off the water. The emerald-eyed vixen straightened, patted her face dry, and winced at the reflection in the mirror of her splotchy red skin from the hot water.

She turned her gaze to Mariam, her pregnant best friend who's flat stomach was now rounden with child. Mariam, the doll who hadn't forgotten Julia's purse! 'I owe you for this.' Julia went straight for the tiny bottle of moisturizer. 'How did you know where to find me?'

'Your guard dog is sitting on a bench outside the door.' Mariam swung her legs, and laid one hand on her stomach. She'd been doing that a lot lately... 'You might want to tell him _Rosy Red_ isn't his colour.'

Julia squeezed her eyes closed. Perfect... A walking, talking billboard advertising her bad timing, and loss of judgement. 'So everyone had seen him and knows?'

'Actually, I son't think so...' She caught the brunette's purse beofre it slipped into the sink. 'You managed to pick an out-of-the-way rest room.'

'Do me a quick favour?' Mariam nodded, watching as Julia worked the lotion into her skin. 'Stick your head out there, and tell him to beat it.' When the other woman's ingido brows lifted in question, Julia added. 'And tell him I'll call him when I get home.'

Mariam hopped down from the counter's edge. 'Didn't you two come here together?'

Shaking her head, Julia dug into her emergency make-up bag for foundation. 'He met me here. He's only my escort. We're not dating. Remember?'

'Yeah... Right...' Julia could tell she didn't believe her. But Mariam stuck her head out the door anyway. Julia listened to the mumble of voices, not able to make out any specific words. But Kai's tone of voice, and the little amount he actually said was enough to convey his displeasure at being blow off.

She wasn't blowing him off... She really wasn't... But she could only deal with one disaster at a time, and Judy had to come first. If only Julia could figure out how to diffuse that bomb before it dropped. Mariam returned, hopped back onto the counter, dragging the hem of her dress in the second sink. 'You're going to ruin that silk...'

But Mariam, being who she was, couldn't be bothered with Julia's fabric care tips. 'He left, but he wasn't happy about it.'

'So I heard.' She paused, make-up sponge hovering above her nose. 'You told him I'd call him right?'

'I did. He said he'd be waiting.'

_He'll be waiting?!_ 'That was it?' Of course... Leave it to Kai Hiwatari for the short, not so sweet, answers...

'We didn't take time for a long chat. I thought you wanted him gone.'

She did, but she didn't. 'I know... I'm sorry... I'm not at my best right now.'

'Now I find that hard to believe, seeing your postorgasmic glow...' A knowing grin spread across her face.

Julia shook her head, gave up on her make-up, and reached for her brush. 'This isn't a glow! This is the result of washing my face with industrial strength cleaner!'

'And Kai was wearing your lipstick all over his neck and collar because you were doing his colours?'

Julia sighed. Might as well come clean... 'Okay, yes. I'm wearing a head-to-toe postorgasmic glow. Kai and I just screwed out brain out.' She attacked her hair with the brush. 'Was it worth ruining my face and... oh fuck! I forgot my panties!'

Mariam burst out laughing. 'You forgot your panties?'

Julia sighed.

'Don't worry... Mariah left her bra in the bathroom beside Judy's office after one of her and Ray's little romps before, and I... well...' Her face went bright red.

Julia raised a brow. 'Okay, you're so finishing that sentence!'

'Let's just say MingMing's now holding Max's favourite pair of boxers for randsom...'

Julia shorted, and rubbed her best friend's stomach. 'You won't be doing that after another month or so. You're only three month along Mari, and you already look like you swallowed a basket ball!'

'Thanks... By the way, I told Judy you were sick.'

Dropping her brush, Julia cut her gaze from the mirrow to Mariam's face. 'What do you mean sick?'

'It was obvious to everyone at the table that you weren't your usual self. You sat through the entire meal and program without tossing off a single smart remark. Then Kai dragged you out of there right after you ate that lemon stuff.' Mariam shrugged. 'Since the rest of us had chocolate, it was an easy enough bluff.'

Julia's heart thudded. 'You really think anyone, Jusy especially, bought that I'm sick?'

'Hey... it works for me.'

'You're pregnant Mariam...'

'It's worth a shot. Kai's gone. You can say you sent him home, which is the truth.'

'Yes. But it doesn't say much for his character, does it? Leaving his sick date all alone?'

'What am I? Chop liver?! You're not all alone! I'm here, and I helped you send him home. Besides, this is your career, Julia. If you have to choose between gAL-gEAR and hot sex...' Mariam let the sentence trail off, picking it up a second later. 'It's not really a choice at all, is it? Look where it got me...'

For all that she wanted to agree, Julia found herself unable to do anything. Mariam picked up her brush and started running it through her best friend's long hair. Julia looked over her shoulder and met Mariam's gaze. 'What if it's not just hot sex?'

Mariam blinked, blinked again, then smiled, and motioned to her stomach. 'Then this is you're future.'

Julia shook her head franticly, trying to fight off the fear that suddenly settled in her gut. 'Never mind. Forget I said that.'

Mariam frowned, and batted Julia lightly on her crown with the brush. 'Don't tell me to never mind! You wouldn't have asked that question if you weren't seriously wondering.'

'That's just it. I don't want to think about what I'm thinking about. I don't want it to be in my mind. I want to get through the Wild Winter Woman fashion show, and be done with this escort business.'

Except she owed Kai one more wish. And even then she wasn't sure she'd have anything settled in her mind. Or what so strangely felt like her heart.

* * *

YAY Bonding time with Mariam! I wish these two interracted in the series. It would have been so cool if they did... But they didn't so I get to make them interract in my AU story! YAY

Well anyways next time, we'll take a look at Tyson and Hilary's tense relationship ... or lack of ...m'kays?

Dong-Chun-Mei


	14. Broken Hearts

Well won't this chapter be interesting...

Sorry but I needed a break from Kai and Julia's intensity... XD And apparently so do you guys... So we'll steer away from Kai and Julia for aa while so people will be happy m'kays? (Don't worry, Julia'll be back and ready for more Kai next chapter MWAHAHAHAHA)

well enjoy!

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Tyson Granger stood facing the converted freight elevator that would take him up the four floors to Hilary's loft. He took one last on the cigarette he didn't want, dropped the butt to the concrete walkway and crushed it beneath his boot. He'd taken up smoking after their break-up as a way to forget her, but it wasn't helping in the least.

Briefly, she flashed in his mind, then the picture of his brother sitting next to her forced her out. What the hell did Hilary think she was doing with Hitoshi Granger?

She'd left him three months earlier, claiming he was a control freak, that he couldn't deal with her intelligence, or her past, that he was too lazy, too laid back, and had never made an effort to get to know her the way he would have if he'd truely loved her.

Tyson could've thrown similar accusations into Hilary's face. She was a neat freek, she couldn't deal with his eat habbits, she was too bossy, too dramatic, and had pushed him too hard. But he hadn't said a word to her... Because they'd both been guilty as charged. He was man enough to take what was coming to him, but he was stubborn too. He wasn't going to ask her to come back! No matter how much he loved the difficult woman.

He had been going to suggest that they sat the beginning, that they take things easy and slow, that they forget they'd ever tumbled head over heels. He'd been going to suggest all of those things because he couldn't believe Hilary had just thrown away the year they'd been inseparable like it was nothing.

But now he wasn't going to suggest anything... Not when she was seeing his brother...

Tyson shoved his hands in the pockets of his baggy suit pants of dark brown corduroy. He'd left his jacket in his Jaguar (and his tie a trash can) when he'd parked in the garage adjacent to the loft.

After the gAL-gEAR gLOWING gIRL ceremony, he'd dropped Emily at her place, and had been on his way home. He'd enjoyed her company, and was quite sure she would've been happy to make sure he ended the evening a very satisfied man. But he wasn't in any frame of mind for a new involvement... Not when he hadn't yet given up on the old.

He hadn't been aware of any conscious decision to stop and see Hilary. But old habbits were hard to break, and now that he was here, he didn't know whether to leave or to take the ride to the fourth floor, and see if she want to-

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the memory that popped into his mind. Remembering Hilary's naked body wasn't going to help anything right now. He'd just go see if she wanted to get a coffee -or tea in her case with extra milk if he remember correctly- and talk.

The thought of finding Hilary with another man finally turned him away from the elevator and back towards the garage. The last thing he wanted to see was Hitoshi with his hands all over the woman he loved. So he walked away. Except two steps down the hallway, he heard the elevator motor engage.

He hesitated, and waited for his heart to regain its usual rhythem. He stopped, turned back, listened to the mechanical bellow and groan as the car made its way to the ground floor. He had his hands in his pockets, and his feet spread wide, prepared to come face-to-face with the laughing couple, and ready with the excuse of having stopped by of a DVD he was certain he'd left here, and had promised to drop off to his grandpa in the morning.

But when the door creaked open, it was Hilary alone, and she was taking out the trash. She wore thick white socks, and had shoved her feet into her red crocks. Her sweatpants were purple, worn and baggy. Her hair still tumbled to her shoulders in the same big curles he'd wanted to get his hands into all night. She hadn't yet scrubbed the make-up from her face. Her eyes glittered, and her skin glowed. Damn, she was incredibly beautiful, and the long sleeved shirt she wore was the yellow one she'd given him for his birthday.

He took the black plastic bag from her hands because he wasn't sure he'd be able to find his voice. Hilary fell into step at his side, and walked with him down the hallway to the back door, and the building's dumpster. His feet made a shuffling, scraping sound that echoed off the high brick walls.

'Did you have a good time this evening?' She finally asked, and her voice echoed too, breaking the uncomfortably awkward silence.

Pretending his sudden appearance wasn't unusal suited him. 'I did, thanks. Did you?'

She nodded, and gave a slight smile. 'It was fun to finally see the program come together after all the work we put into it.'

'That was a good thing gAL-gEAR did... awarding those scholarships. And you picked the perfect girl for the job.' He grinned at her like an idiot. 'Er... I kinda forgot her name...'

'Queen Royal.'

'Queen, right...' He hesitated for a second, then went ahead with what he wanted to say, even though the issue had long been a bone of contention. 'She seemed as passionate about fashion as you've always been about art, Hilary.'

'Are you dating Em, Tyson?' The ruby eyed brunette asked, exchanging one bone for another.

'We've been out, but we're not dating.' He pushed open the heavy steel door that opened the dumpster. A lone streetlight illuminated the big asphalt square. The night was cool and misty. Tyson tossed the bag in with the rest of the trash, and returned to the door Hilary held open. 'What about you and Hitoshi? Are you and him serious?'

Hilary released the heavy door angrily. It slammed shut, the reverberating echo ringing in his ears. 'He's nice to me!' She snapped.

'He's my brother!' He shouted in her face.

'So what? It's none of you're business who either of us date!' She turned, and started her shuffle and scrape back down the hallway to the elevator.

Tyson wasn't going to let her go so easily. 'It is if the woman I love's going to be my sister-in-law!'

She halted with her back to him. She shoulders shook, but if that was from fury or anxiety he couldn't tell. 'Does it really matter, Tyson?' Her voice wavered. 'We're not together any more. If I decided to fall in love with someone else, that's my decision. Not yours.'

'Is that what my brother is? You're new love?' Tyson hated the weakness that caused him to ask.

Hilary wrapped her arms around her middle. 'Hitoshi is a friend... A supportive friend that shares my love for art.'

Tyson kept himself from asking what other of her passions his brother shared. He hadn't come here to get into a sniping match, and he didn't really want to know. But still, he couldn't stop the next comment from fall off his lips. 'Right... A supportive friend that enjoys his time in your pants.'

The smack was so sudden, he didn't even have time to grab her hand. Clutching his burning cheek, Tyson stared at her with his mouth gaping as his brain tried to grasp what'd just happened. _She hit me..._ He blinked, repeating the thought over and over in his mind.

She exploded, unable to hold back the pain he's droven into her like a knife. 'What do you think I am? A slutty whore? I'd never sleep with your brother! He's just a friend who, unlike you, listens to me, and doesn't jump to stupid conclu-'

Tyson's lips crashing down on hers cut her off. Hilary was too shocked to move. _Apologize!_ Tyson ordered himself. _Tell her how sorry you are before it's too late!_ But his emotions were a jumbled mess, inexplicable to even himself. So instead, he gathered her trembling body tenderly in his arms, and kiss her like he was dying. Becuase without her, he really would die.

Hilary pushed him away and slammed her hand onto the elevator button. She turned her back to him, refusing to meet his chocolate eyes. 'I think you better leave now Tyson.' She said shakily, and stepped through the elevator door.

When the elevator door close, he would've kicked the damn thing, but he didn't want Hilary to hear the sound of his frustration echo up the shaft. Instead, he turned slowly, shoved his hands into his pockets, and headed to the parking garage, his steps heavy.

For the first time, the sight of his gleaming black Jaguar failed to give him a rush. He unlocked the driver's side, and slid behind the wheel, wondering if it was too late to pay a return visit to Emily Tompson. Her reception would be warm... She would probably banish the cold emptiness inside his chest... But she wouldn't be Hilary...

Acknowledging defeat, Tyson fired up the engine, and screeched out of the garage. _Hell... who needs a woman anyway?_ He certainly didn't!

Hilary watched him drive away from the safety of her loft. She was sure he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. She revelled in that thought, but even when she should be happy, she couldn't stop herself from sinking to the floor, and crying until she had no tears left to shed.

* * *

Man that chapter was long, and harder to write than I thought it would be...

Oh well it turned out good in the end... though kind of sad...

Dong-Chun-Mei


	15. Meeting Needs

After a long time without updates, I'm finally back, with a lemony PWP smut chapter for all you lemon fans. BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Take that everyone!

O.o sorry weird moment there lol! Well once again I don't own beyblade, no so I have a spell check but I did my best and I really hope you enjoy, but if you must flame... go ahead, I'll just delete me MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

And really if lemons, or kaiJulia aren't you thing... **HIT THE DAMN BACK BUTTON NOW! **Don't read it just to sit there and complain! It's MY STORY I can write as many lemons in it as I want!

O.o sorry abut that guys, but had to get it off my chest. WELL ENJOY! Of those who are reading this story, but don't like lemons, please bare with me and at least skim this chapter. It's not the detailed, and there's some inprotant stuff going to happen between Kai and Julia towards the bottom.

ENJOY!

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Julia didn't think she'd ever been so glad to get home. Halfway across the living room, she tossed her purse to the sofa and kicked off her shoes. The strappy black heels went flying, leaving her three inches shorter, and closer to being able to relax. She needed to shower, to wash away her encounter with Kai, and the rest of the disastrous night.

No matter what Mariam claimed, Julia wasn't sure she'd convinced anyone she wasn't feeling well, even if, by the time she'd actually make her way back to the near-empty ballroom, she'd been feeling like ten-day-old garbage. Mariam had done her best to cover, but Julia knew she was going to have to clear the air with Judy herself. If was hardly fair to use Mariam, even if the sick-as-a-dog story had been her idea. Julia was a big girl, and needed to swallow whatever bad-tasting medicine Judy spooned up.

She padded across the thick, cream-coloured carpet of her dark taupe-and-mauve living room through the dining area, and into her apartment's nice big kitchen. After staring blankly into her refrigerator, and deciding what she really wanted was a beer, she reached for a cold Corona longneck and a lemon.

With stocking-covered feet slipping on the tiled floor, she carried both to the butcher block island in the center of the kitchen, and pulled open the drawer where she stored her bottle opener and paring knives. She pried off the bottle cap, sliced the lemon, devoured it all except the peeling, and lifted the bottle to her mouth.

As her chin came up, her head tilted back, and the bitterly cold liquid flowed into her mouth, her gaze naturally rose until she found herself looking down the line of the bottle, and out the patio door. Kai sat on the black, old iron bench that was the focal piece of her courtyard garden. He leaned forward, his knees spread wide. His elbows were planted on his thighs, his fists clenched so tightly, his nuckles where turning white.

His eyes remained fixed on Julia's emerald ones, even as she lowered the bottle slowly, the cold glass beginning to sweat in her hand, the smell of lemon a tangy contrast to the smell of the barley and hops. What had intially begun as fear, as sharp metallic fright stinging her skin, and hampering her ability to breathe, was turning into a wave of sweet expectation, wonder, anticipation, and want.

How could she want him again so soon, when she'd had him only hours ago? When she'd since sworn to redirect her priorities, make reparations, amends, and take control of the direction her life was headed?

And now here was Kai, his crimson eyes unrelenting as he held her gaze, his expression as hard as it was intense. And everything inside her, every part of who she was, knew she wouldn't recover from him easily. She saw in him so much of what she wanted, and yet she'd never truely thought to find her fantasy man, or considered what the fulfillment of her fantasy would mean. She'd never recognized the threat to her control, the desire to give herself up completely to this man who refused to look away, whose vibrancy and sharply tuned focus heated the air shimmering around her as surely as it burned her skin from the inside out.

He got to his feet then, and Julia swallowed hard at the picture he made, the uncertainty of a delinquent caught breaking and entering, and the determination of a man who'd come to claim what was his. Julia felt her restraint crack and crip away. How was she supposed to fight a battle she'd already lost? She set down her Corona, the placed both palms flat on the butcher-block surface. Her fingers curled over the edge, but the solid block of wood offered her nothing in the way of a soild foundation.

She was on her own.

The suit Kai still wore was a deep-charcoal-grey pinstripe cut in classic lines. He's since rid himself of his jacket, and even his white shirt had a couple of buttons undone. Julia swore that even from here she could see the pulse beating in the hollow of his throat.

Julia wanted to beckon him inside, but she wanted even more to wait for him to make the first move. The tension between them crackled like the electricity in the air from a summer storm, sharp, biting, and hot. She breath as deeply as the anxiety-driven compression of her chest would allow. She could taste the heat of her own rushing blood.

And then Kai moved a step forward, and a second, the third bringing him within arm's length of the sliding glass doors. Julia prayed she hadn't locked the latch when she'd filled the bird feeder this afternoon. Or that Kai, somehow, had entered through her front door, releasing the catch when he's stepped outside. But he had to have come over the courtyard fence... A proverbial scaled wall. And she realized the length he'd gone to be here...

To see her...

To have her...

Her knees shook. Her thighs trembled. Her heart seemed to pound in her throat. He reached for the door and shoved, it slid over along the tracks. One long step and he was inside, crossing the dimly lit dining area, his footsteps nearly silent on the tiles.

And then he was in the kitchen, and his hands gripped her shoulders as he backed her into the refrigerator, and lowered his head. His mouth was rough, and it was demanding, of her surrender, and her acknoledgment that he wouldn't be walking away this time. Thrilled into submission, she parted her lips and met his seeking tongue, slipped her hands beneath his shirt, and skated her palms up the skin on his back.

His lips teased hers. He bit at first the top and then the bottom, then sucked on the tip of her tongue. His movements were rough, hard, daring, savage, and bold. Julia was certain she'd never known more physical sensation from one single kiss. It was more than the involvement of his lips, tongue, and teeth. It was the vibration of Kai's heartbeat hammering under her skilled hands, and the heat of his fingertips as they grasped her breast and bruised.

All of this amplified by his teasing mouth. And then suddenly he wasn't just teasing her anymore. He was moving widly. Julia hadn't known a man's hunger could so suddenly spring to life until he seemed to be nothing but living desire.

Kai's hands were seeking, searching, slipping over her shoulders, down her arms, across her stomach where a fire had started to burn, and up to her breasts again. He kneaded them, squeezed, and she moaned into his mouth. Her head started to spin.

He went straight for the hem of her dress, hiking it up, digging beneath, and caressing her hips. His thumb rubbed hards circles around and around on her skin.

Already tonight he'd infalmed her this way, and she wanted to return the same maddening torture. So she sent her hands to the fastenings of his pants, and went to work on the belt, metal catch, and zipper, shoving his suit's pants, and his boxers down his back. He was already hard.

Julia watched the clock on the opposite wall tick away instead of Kai's face. She sensed the heat of his gaze but rufused to answer the visual pull. This encounter was all about sex -one hundred pre-cent physical sensation; no eye contact, emotion, or meaning allowed. She was going to take charge. Julia refused to let feelings come into play as she exacted revenge for the uncertain confusion his earlier possession had sparked.

Standing on tiptoe, she lifted her leg, wrapping it around his thigh. Kai surprised her by lacing his fingers through hers, then driving his body forward, trapping their hands between them.

At that -the joining of their bodies so intimately, with hands so casually clasped- she couldn't help but look up. His crimson eyes gazed down into hers with the most tender of emotion, all things kind, gentle, caring, and warm. And Julia couldn't take it. She couldn't handle what his expression revealed.

She pulled her hand free of his, and squeezed his nape, prompting him to move. But he reamined unmoving, immobile. His body buried deep with no place to go unless he did as she asked, as she damanded, with the squeezing and prodding of her fingers against his skin.

Still, he remained motionless and impaled. Still, she urged him into action, growing desperate, and emotionally fightened by his insistence on making her wait. She wanted to slap him, to shout. Instead she growled in frustration, and scratched her short nails over his shoulder-blade.

Kai pressed his forehead to hers, and whispered. 'Shh... I'm not going anywhere.'

'That's the problem!' She exclaimed. 'You need to move!'

'I will.' He answered, and subtly shifted, rubbing up, and into her core, which he'd so easily inflamed.

Julia stiffled a moan, hating he held so much power over her so easily... That he could make her crazy with a look, and nothing more... That he was able to touch her, and take her apart until she wanted to scream with pleasure, and cry at the frustrating loss of her cool.

'Maybe you could get to it sometime soon?' She snarled the question, biting at skin beneath his ear.

Kai slipped the one hand still between their bodies up to cradle her cheek. His thumb tickled the skin along her jaw as he caressed it, inciting her to whimper. 'Julia, I lov-'

'NO!' She cut him off with a shout, then jerked her face from his touch, pressing it against the wall. 'No, you don't! You can't... Please...' A sob burst free, and Julia hated herself for the weakness. 'Just finish... That's all I want.'

Kai closed his eyes. His jaw worked to repress the words she knew he wanted to say. When he looked at her again, his expression showed a battle between anger and hurt. Neither sentiment did a thing to set Julia at ease. 'The princess alwasy gets what she wants.' He muttered bitterly, his mouth twisted, and then he began to move.

Before she could protest or tell him to get the hell out of her house, he started to slowly thrust, to withdraw, to push forward, to pull away. Julia's head fell backwards as she moaned. He knew her too well, knew how to strike the head of the match to set her fire ablaze.

Julia's body took over, refusing to listen to her mind or her principles or even her common sense. The friction of Kai's movements brought her to the edge, and sent her tumbling over. No man but Kai had ever met her physical needs so perfectly...

Even while she hated him, she loved him.

* * *

Okay so a little short, but I like how it ended... though I'm not sure about the last sentence... Oh well it's done too bad. MWAHAHAHAHA

Man I'm evil today.. well I hope you all enjoyed. And feel free to drop a review.

Dong-Chun-Mei


	16. Boss Knows Best

I thought it was time to showcase Julia's relationship with her boss a bit. So I dedicated this chapter to them. There's more to Judy's relationship with the other partners of gAL-gEAR than just her being their boss and good friend. It's hinted at in this chapter, and will be clearing in more chapters to come... maybe... depend how the story goes...

Once more, I do not own beyblade or the story on which this was based, so if you want to flame, I will get my own torch and light you on fire in responce... do you really wanna test that? YES! BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!

Well enjoy!

* * *

On monday morning, Julia checked her reflection in the mirror of the ladies' room down the hall from her office. Today, Julia had chosen to dress more conservatively than usual. Her suit was a coal black leather, the striaght skirt hitting just above her knees, the short-sleeved top double-brested, and waist length. Her stockings were a snowy white, and her stacked-heel pumps a matching shade of black. 

Tugging the hem of her top into place, and smothing the lines of her skirt, she took a deep breath, and blew it out slowly. She was worrying too much over her appearance, when she saw Judy every day, and clothing weren't half as important as the confession she needed to make.

Yes, the women were partners, but Judy held a controlling interest, and had the final word when it came to the firm's business. When it came to personnel issues, as well. In short, she was Julia's boss, and since Julia had professional issues to discuess with the woman at the top, she'd taken her appearance seriously, because she wanted to be taken the same.

She left the ladies' room, and headed up the hallway to the office at the end. Judy's space was no larger than the other five offices located on the executive side of the building, but her space did sit in the primo corner, as befitting her position as CEO. Julia took a deep breath, rapped her knuckles against the door, and peeked into the office, which was decorated in shades of peachock blue and olive. 'Do you have a minute?'

Judy looked up from the spreadsheet she'd been studying. 'Sure, I could use a break. These numbers quit making sense about an hour ago...'

Moving into the office, Julia sat in the chair opposite Judy's desk, and crossed her legs. 'Numbers haven't made sense to me since first grade, and one plue one equals two.'

Elbows propped on her desk, the blonde settled her chin into the cradle of her laced fingers and smiled. 'I think I knew that about you when you kept making wrong change at the coffee shop when you were once of my interns during gAL-gEAR's early years.'

Julia couldn't stop the upward quirk of her mouth. 'And here I thougt you had me pulling the espresso because I made less of a mess with the grounds than everyone else.'

'Oh yes.' Judy screwed up her nose. 'I forgot about that... I have a bad habit of remembering things the way I want to see them until I'm reminded of what actually happened.'

_Here we go..._ Julia took another deep breath. 'That's why I'm here... To remind you.'

'About the espresso?'

Julia shook her head of brown hair. _If only it were that simple..._ 'No, about the gAL-gEAR gLOWING-gIRL ceremony.'

'You got home okay, I hope? Mariam said you weren't feeling well... I should've called to check on you over the weekend, but I've been up to my ears with the designers who are sending samples for the Wild Winter Woman fashion show.' Judy gathered her hair into a tail at her nape, and rubbed the base of her neck with her other hand. She met Julia's gaze with a questioning lift of an elegant brow.

'I wasn't sick, I was with Kai. I shouldn't have let Mariam cover for me.' Julia started. Her foot began to nervously swing. 'Though, by the time she found me, it's ture that I wasn't feeling the best.'

Judy continued to rub at her neck, moving her hand into her hair to massage the base of her skull. Julia had no idea what the other woman was thinking. No idea if Judy was about to lower the broom, or if she was still processing what Julia has said, and deciding how painlessly to drop the ax. Instead of doing either, she let go of her hair, and leaned forward, lowering her voice as she asked. 'What _is_ going on with you and Hiwatari? Because this can't all be about your reputation. Not that I thought that plan would hold water...'

Julia's foot stop swinging. 'What makes you say that?'

'Because I can't see any man ever being content in the role of your escort, temporary or not. Unless Kai Hiwatari is a saint or completely gay tha-'

'Don't even go there!'

Judy smiled apparently amused.

'Are you saying he'd expect me to live up to my reputation?' And wasn't that just exactly what she'd done?

Judy's delicate blonde brows drew together as if she were trying to grasp the younger woman's responce. 'I didn't take you for someone so dense Julia. The man's in love with you hunny.'

Julia's eyes drifted closed, and she let her head fall against the back of the chair. She couldn't deal with this now. No matter that Kai had been but a breath away from tellng her before she'd stopped him or not.

Judy reached across her desk, and patted the brunette's knee. 'He probably won't tell you, you know... He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would talk about his feelings openly.'

Of course he wouldn't tell her now! Even Julia knew a man had his pride. 'He won't tell me because it's not the case at all. It's just... a fling.'

'I kind of gathered that when you let him drag you out of the dinner.'

Julia uncrossed her legs, and sat forward primly. She was here about gAL-gEAR, not about Kai Hiwatari... 'I own you an apology, Judy. You, and the others. I haven't held up my end of the agreement we made about keeping our closets clean.'

Judy sat back, her fingers gripping the curved ends of her armrests. 'What do you want me to do, Julia? It sounds like you're here for more than an apology. In fact, I've thought for a while that you haven't been as excited about gAL-gEAR as you were at the beginning.'

Julia gave a huff of a laugh. 'And here I thought I'd done such a bang-up job convincing eveyone otherwize.'

'It may have worked, if you'd first convinced yourself.' Judy explained, dispencing the sort of wisdom Julia was coming to recognize as the truth.

'I love gAL-gEAR, Judy. Don't get me wrong... It's different than other companies in this line of work. I thought it would turn out to be some primpy, tight-wad girly image competition when I first started as an inturn... but I was wrong.' The two-toned brunette screwed up her mouth. 'If I'm unhappy, it's because of what I have going on personally.'

After several thoughtful seconds, Judy released a long, pent-up sigh. 'You're way too young to be going through midlife crisis Julia. If anything, being your boss will give me grey hairs, not the other way around. Right now, I have to put our friendship aside, including all the juicy stuff I'm dying to hear abour Kai, to consider what your lowered enthusiasm might mean to the company. Despite your reluctance as an intern, you had potential, just like the rest of the girls, that's why I pushed you all as hard as I did.'

Julia quietly laughed. 'Not to change the subject, but I never thought about you as the _juicy stuff_ type.'

Judy stuck her tongue out, then smiled and wry smile. 'It's my all-business-all-the-time demeanor that fools people...'

'I'm not so sure about that. But I know it's possible for you to get a firecracker up your ass, and by the looks of it, it's possible for your usually easy-going your husband as well.' Julia remarked, struck with the thought for the second time. 'I was watching you the other night. You were both steaming... Did you have another _disagreement_ over becoming grandparents?'

Judy picked up her pencil, and tapped it against the spreadsheet oh her desk. 'I love my son, and my husband. But I feel he's making a terrible mistake with Mariam...'

'And Mr. Tate supports his decision to stand by Mariam.'

' Don't get me wrong, I love Mariam, but they're too young to have a family. Max has his whole future ahead of him, this child will only hold him back. And Mariam... Mariam is heading towards a dead-end in life. I've known that since the first day I met her as a child. Her lurid past will only cause problems for the Tate family.'

Julia's eyes narrowed. 'Mar isn't the only one with a lurid past, or are you forgetting about the rest of gAL-gEAR? We all have problems, including yourself, or have you forgotten that little detail...?'

Judy's chin went up. 'No, I haven't, nor do I want my son to stumble down the same road I did. Having a child when you're still a child yourself is the stpuidest, and hardest choice anyone could make in life. I know that first hand, but I don't allow such a skeleton to skulk around in my closet, I keep them under wraps.'

Julia took the hint, but decided to brust it aside for the moment. 'Wouldn't that make them mummies? Better make sure they don't break out of their cript and come after you.'

'I suppose I'd better, as should you.'

Both women were quiet for a minute, before Julia softly added. 'Can you give me some time? To work this out? Trust me, it won't take long, because I'm starting to get on my own nerves in a really bad way. And you need to work things out with Max too. He's made a choice, and no matter how difficult it's going to be, he's not going to change his mind. If you keep pushing him, he's only going to push back twice as hard. I know my brother did when our father pushed him.'

Judy got to her feet and circled her desk, her long, cyan-colored skirt hugging her hips as she walked, her classic camp shirt in a geometric patter of cyan and black silk delineating her narrow waist. She settled into the chair next to Julia, and mirrored her head-back, legs-crossed pose. 'How about I give you my friendship, and in return, you give me yours? Unless I see a noticeable downturn in your department that is... then I'll have to hang you out to dry.'

'Just make sure you don't pin me up by my underwear. The last thing I need right now is a wedgie that size.'

It's a deal!' Judy managed between bursts of laughter. The elder woman held out her hand, and Julia laced their finger together, swinging their joined hands between their two chairs until Judy turned her head. 'You want to get some lunch?'

Julia considered her stomach, which seemed to have settled some. 'On two conditions. We go to the Blue Note Cafe, and you fill me in on how things are going between you and Samul.'

* * *

Just to clear something up, Mr. Tate's name is pronouned Sah-Mool... okay? Good! And another chapter is done.

Leavea review if you want, there aren't many chapters left!

Dong-Chun-Mei


	17. Twenty Questions

Oh my goodness! It's an update! Finally!! I got bored of studying, so I decided to write... and ended up writing a lot apparently... Lol

Well Enjoy...

* * *

One of the perks of owning Breakerz' Half Time was keeping in touch with friends from his highschool days. Sure, Kai wasn't the most talkative person... Hell, he could win an award for giving people the cold shoulder, but there were those certain few who made his life a little more irritating, and a lot less lonely.

Kai'd been headed for a career in baseball, and had attended a special high school on full scholarship. He'd been the pro scouts' favourie ever since pitching his middle school team three consecutive national championships. That dream had come crashing down during his last year by a torn rotator cuff, and severed leg that seven surgeries hadn't been able to fully repair.

He's thought of coaching, but being on the field, day in and day out, was asking a lot of a man whose whole future had been painfully ripped from him by a shoulder socket, and a leg he was lucky to even be walking on. Kai harboured no resentment for what'd happened, but neither did he see any point in trying to open old wounds. He'd learned a long time ago to walk away, and leave his past in the past.

Tonight, Breakerz' had been closed for a private party, a couple's wedding shower Kai, with Julia's help, and a lot of pushing for Ray, had hosted for an old friend he'd known from childhood. Kai was happy to see his friend again, if not a little envious of the man's relationship with his woman. Of all women, why did it have to be Julia Fernandez to tune Kai into what he was missing in his life?

Lately, his house felt amazingly empty when he went home at night. The big downstairs rooms echoed with silence. The television only provided impersonal voices, which he didn't really listen to anyway, and Kai found himself flipping through the channels a little more often than he'd openly admit. But even more quiet were the rooms upstairs, the bedrooms he'd used for storage, the ones he'd left empty. And, most of all, the one where he slept alone.

How had one woman changed his entire life so suddenly?

So, while he was here in Breakerz' kitchen, cleaning up the party remainds, the companion he wanted was in the bar, sitting on a stool, her head resting on crossed arms, taking the nap she claimed she needed after working her ass off as his co-hostess. Julia Fernandez could deny she had feelings for him until gAL-gEAR went bankrupt, and she died her hair pink, but Kai new better. It wasn't seeing to drinks that had tapped the bottom of her energy well.

She was beat up by emotion, her exhaustion a result of the bombardment of happy couples, of their friends pestering her, and of questions about her love life. Kai had heard Julia's constant insistance that they were nothing but good friends, but he'd heard the rest of the talk too... Talk that had hammered away at her resistance to admitting that what they shared had long since moved beyond friendship.

Sure, they were friends, the best of friends actually, with benefits to boot, but not lovers. Not yet... The sex they'd enjoyed had been too intense, too combustible to be free of consequences, but not tender enough to be called making love.

Julia hadn't let it be... And he'd waited too long...

Oh, Kai'd given her exactly what she wanted that night. Then he'd left, and seriously considered not coming back, not seeing her again, blowing off his last wish, and her Wild Winter Woman fashion show.

Somehow, Julia'd wormed her way past all his barriors, lodged her claws right into his heart, and without even realizing it, she'd hurt him. Damn, he was pissed that night... The hole in his bedroom wall was enough proof of that, but he was a man of his word, or he was nothing.

And Julia's cold shoulder, her fingers pressed to his lips, even her quiet sob of release hadn't told him the same story as her eyes. In the end, her eyes were what he listened to. They'd convinced him she'd fallen from her ivory tower, and was trying to catch herself before she hit rock bottom. He'd read more than physical pleasure in those emerald orbs, and from that moment on, he refused to cheapen himself and the woman he loved-

Oh fuck...

He was in love... With Julia Fernandez...

Rather shakingly, he stored the last of the food he'd come to the kitchen to put away, and headed back out to the bar with his mind swimming. Julia was right where he'd left her, with her head down on the bar... sleeping peacefully. If he hasn't already been a goner, he certainly was now. She sat there, ankles primly crossed to one side, her deep-whine-coloured dress softly draped over her legs and lap, the tiny cap sleeves hugging her shoulders.

Before calling it a night, Ray'd turned out all the lights, once the last of the guests had left, leaving only the two that lit the swinging doors into the kitchen, and the one that glowed from his office into the hallway. It was just enough light to see how relaxed, and vulnerable Julia's face was in sleep. Her usually knitted brows were soft, with strands of hair fluttered across her cheeks.

Kai eased up onto the stool next to hers, wanting nothing more than to watch her sleep, preferably on the pillow next to his... Kai shook his head, reminding himself not to go there for the thirtiest time that night.

Her expression appeared so gentle, so pure, and this was the part of her she hid from others the most. The part he understood fully why she did... He reached out with one finger, and tucked the fallen strands of hair behind her ear. She frowned at the contact, shifted slightly, then slowly opened her emerald eyes.

Her frown instantly deeped.

'Don't.' He drew his finger down the tiny crease between her brows.

Julia blinked, then raised up, propping her elbow on the bar, and cupping her head in her palm. 'Sorry, I didn't exactly have a mother to tell me not to when I was little. In fact, I've never had a mother, period.'

'Never?'

'She died in an auto accident before my first birthday.'

Trust Julia not to milk his sympathy in past discussions. She was too tough for that. Kai tucked back her hair, which had fallen free again. 'No step-mother?'

'You're kidding right?' She lost the frown for an expression of mocking disbelief. 'Where would he ever find a woman as perfect as the one who gave him eight children?! Who never smoked or drank or raised her voice? Who was beautiful, gentle, and played the role of a happy homemaker perfectly?'

He raised a brow as he studied Julia's face, the way her cynicism remained, the way her gaze clouded, but never wavered. She was dead serious.

'That's what I grew up thinking...' She continued. 'I only recently found out it was a lie. She couldn't measure up to his impossible standards when she was alive, so he created a paragon of virtue after her death. After a few years, I think he actually believed it himself. He sure as hell made me believe I was inferior...'

Now this was interesting. It wasn't a past lover, but her father who's made it all but impossible for Julia to trust men. 'How did you find out?'

She straightened where she sat, stretched, then draped her upper body over the edge of the bar. 'My brother recently came back to town... He told me everything...'

'Which one?' He knew she had seven, but she rarely saw them.

'Micheal... The oldest... The cowboy...'

'Cowboy... I didn't know that.'

'Well... we didn't exactly sit down an play 20 Questions...'

'Why?'

Julia bit her lip, and turned away slightly. 'You last wish was for me to help out with the party tonight. I still have my Wild Winter Woman fashion show to get through, then we're going our seperate ways. Why waste a bunch of time on getting to know each other? I think it would be best for us to keep going the way we are...'

His crimson orbs fickered angrily. 'I'm not doing this anymore.'

She blinked, confused. 'Doing what?'

'Casual sex.'

Taken back by his blunt reply, she opened her mouth to retort, only to look like a drowning fish. Finally, she sighed. 'It's just sex, with nothing attached. That's how it's supposed to be... No emotional attachment...'

Kai lowered his head as she trailed off, catching a hint of her floral perfume, and the clean scent of her skin as he dug into the pocket of his pants for his car keys. He bounced the keys in his palm, more nervous now than he'd been in his entire life. 'Julia, I love you.'

Her lashes fluttered, then stilled, her mouth softened, but remained closed. It seemed to him she'd almost flinched at the words. As far as reactions went, it blew beets, and it hadn't been easy for him to say that to her, especially after what happened last time he'd tired to. Still, he continued. 'We're not having casual sex any longer.'

'We're not?!'

He raised a brow at her disappointed tone. Taking her hand in his, he kissed the back of it. 'No, we're not. What we are going to do, when it happens, is make love. It's about time you leaned the difference.'

* * *

'So... Should we play 20 Questions now?'

The question took him by surprise. It'd been a week since the party at Breakerz', and this was the first time they'd actually gotten a chance to speak to each other. She promised, when he'd dropped her off that night, she would make an effort to better get to know him. He had glad she's kept the promise. Holding the phone with his shoulder, Kai set about making a drink for a customer. 'Shoot.'

He heard her yell at someone on the other end before responding. 'Okay... What's you're favourite colour?'

Why do they always ask that question first? 'Blue.'

'Jeeze, were you looking at your hair when you picked that colour or something?'

'No.'

'Fine then... Favourite candy.'

'None.'

'You don't like candy?!'

'No.'

'You were deprived as a child... weren't you Hiwatari?'

'Yes.'

Julia almost dropped her cellphone. 'I wasn't serious...'

'I was.'

'You're not going to elaborate are you?'

'No.'

'Didn't think so...' Julia sat down on the end of her make-shift desk. _Next time Judy decides to plan a last minute fashion show in Paris, she can do it without me... _'What's your father's name?'

No answer came.

'Kai?'

'...Susumu.'

Julia finched at the tone in his voice, and decided it would be best if she didn't press the subject. 'Name on of your ex-girlfriends!'

'MingMing.'

'That's a weird- WAIT! Our MingMing?!'

'Yes.'

'Why didn't she ever tell me?!'

'She was fourteen, I lived with her family for the summer.'

'Oh... So you're a cradle robber?'

'A what?'

'A cradle robber, someone who's interested in dating youger people!'

'I was fifteen.'

'You're almost twenty now.'

'You're nineteen.'

'Still younger.'

'Hn...'

She rolled her eyes. _Childish, stubborn fool! _'Favourite Season?'

'Winter.'

'Were were you born?'

'Russian.'

'No wonder you like winter... Favourtie song?'

'Boulivard of Broken Dreams.'

'Are you secrety emo or something?'

'No.'

'Sure you're not... Favourite Animal?'

'Eagle.'

'Ah ha! So you're sadistic!'

'No.'

'Damn! ...Favourite food?'

'Lemon.'

Julia's face shrunched up at the very thought. 'You're crazy...'

'Hn...'

'Okay then, if you could have anything in the world, what would it be?'

'You.'

Her heart stopped. 'W-why...?'

'I love you.'

The next thing he heard was the dial tone.

* * *

Okay... so very, very random ending, but I had the urge to do the 20 Questions thing, so I did... Even if Kai didn't get to as Julia hers.. .T.T Oh well... I hope you enjoyed, and feel free to drop a review... You know you wanna! LOL

Dong-Chun-Mei


	18. Wild Winter Woman Fashion Show

((Please note, I have reciently discovered that Max's father's name is Taro. Here the proof -  wiki/Taro_Tate . Therefore, I will be referring to Mr. Tate as Taro from now on)).

Btw: this chapter is a long time coming ;w;. I wonder if I have any readers left. *sad feels*

* * *

Kai had yet to see a single supermodel. Here he was at gAL-gEAR's Wild Wintere Woman fashion show, sitting in front of the runway, sharing prime real estate in the Stanley R. Dickenson Convention Centre with Mr. Tate, Ray Kon, Tyson Granger, Hiro Granger, and Max Tate.

And there wasn't a supermodel to be seen.

Julia, being the sneaky vixen she was had obviously been willing to pull any rabbit out of her hat, since it had been the promise of the supermodels that had swayed Kai, way back when, to go along with her plan. He was a pureblooded male after all.

Well, that wasn't quite what had persuaded him to be her escort, he mused, shifting in the utilitarian convention chair. What had convinced him in the beginning to barter his services had had started months ago, before he'd been paired with Julia for Mariah's scavenger hunt.

Because he played soccer with Tyson, Kai had originally been introduced to Julia by Hilary last year during the league's spring season. He'd seen Julia off and on during the months that followed and heard tales of her reputation through the local testosterone grapevine. Tales that had left him curious and disbelieving. Curious because he'd never been able to reconcile the stories of her ball-busting skills even with her hard-edged, bad girl appearance. And disbelieving because he'd never met a woman who had it in for all men.

The scavenger hunt pairing had made him a convert. But knowing the truth of her nature hadn't made a bit of a difference when he'd glanced up that late Saturday afternoon to see her sitting at the bar, wearing a football jersey, cross-trainers, and a look of distress. He'd been hooked before she'd even filled him in on the particulars of her little plan.

Kai hadn't talked to or seen Julia since she'd hung up on him almost three weeks ago. And now, sitting rather uncomfortable in this tuxedo, he was trying to convince himself that he was here at the fashion show because he was her escort not because he just wanted to see her.

Up until a few moments ago, Ray had been making small conversation with him. But now, with Daichi as the DJ he had nothing but his thoughts for company. If the supermodels didn't start showing up soon, he was out of here.

The lights dimmed. Colored spotlight swept the room. The music surged to a crescendo, then died down to a low background beat. Okay, so Daichi didn't do that bad as the DJ. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our hostess for the evening. Star of the locally produced and nationally syndicated talk show _Speak Up!_, Mrs. MingMing Sumeragi!"

The crowed burst to life, but not in welcoming applause, in utter shock, Kai didn't really see what everyone was so surprised about. MingMing looked the same as she always did stepping from behind the curtain. But as she made her way to the podium on the left side of the stage, it hit Kai. Mrs. Sumeragi… MingMing and Daichi had eloped!

"Good evening everyone!" Mingming's greeting was met with gaping mouths. She just grinned devilishly out at the crowd. "Its wonderful to see this amazing turnout and so many familiar faces! Including my new husband!" She motioned to the DJ box where Daichi was blowing kisses and waving like a madman to his new bride. "Come now everyone, save your awe and amazement for the show~ Trust me. You're going to need it, because what I've seen backstage will blow you away more than Daichi putting a ring on it!"

A few chuckles could be heard, meaning the crowd was beginning to relax and get over the shock. "Get ready to be wooed. Get ready to be wowed! Get ready to open up your wallets and spend till it hurts! We have bragging rights to the hottest fashion tickets in the country. Now, let's show the world how we dress it up! Get ready for the girls of gAL-gEAR!"

Kai shook his head and sat back. No wonder the girls had made themselves scarce. Supermodels? Right. And he was a major-league ball player. Still, he couldn't wait to see Julia strut her stuff- uh… as long as her stuff was covered that is. But it was a concern, knowing her.

The spotlight returned to dance across the stage. The curtain parted. Round-hugging fog rolled forward, hovering over the platform, dissipating feet in front of the runway in smoky fingers of orange, yellow, pink and blue. The music turned a little too funky for Kai's tastes, but he found himself rather partial to the stylish production.

MingMing adjusted the podium's reading lamp and moved to her script. "Recently awarded a full scholarship along with the title of gAL-gEAR girl, please offer your congratulations one more time to Miss Queen Royal!"

Kai raised a brow. So Julia's favorite had won after all. She hadn't told him that, not that he'd asked either. MingMing's voice cut into his thoughts. "Most likely to go to the head of the class, Queen is wearing a classic back-to-school look. Her red-letter sweater tops a kicky private-school plaid skirt. Add a pair of red leather bad-girl boots and find _yourself _the teacher's pet!"

Queen strutted down the runway with one hand at her hips, her chin in the air and a saucy no-one-can-stop-me-now smirk on her mouth. Looking at the girl, Kai could only chuckle under his breath and hoped the partners knew what they were doing. They were definitely creating a fashion monster. Queen tossed her head for the return trip, her sleek black hair cropped short at her nape. MingMing raised her voice over the thunderous response. "Thank you, Queen! Now, please welcome the woman who give you the best in guidance and games, editor of gAL-gEAR's Web site, Mariah Wong!"

"From the lemon-yellow tennis shoes and matching cuff watch in neon plastic, Mariah's ensemble is paint-splattered street punk personified. Her skin-hugging pullover in a Picasso-patterned mosaic is paired with a matching skirt covered in colorful subway-car graffiti. This is fashion at its silly unmatched best."

And Kai was sure Ray was going to jump out of his seat. He wasn't sure if the Chinese Immigrant was applauded or turned on by his girlfriend's ensemble. Either way, it was obvious Mariah wasn't going to be wearing anything if Ray got his hands on her.

"Mariah Wong, ladies and gentlemen." MingMing said as Mariah skipped off stage and Hilary started down the runway. "Hilary Tatibana reaches back in time to give us a peek at her own inner Victorian. Wearing distressed leather boots laced to the knee and a tiered black taffeta skirt above, Hilary has embellished an antique scarf knotted behind the stand-up collar of a denim weskit."

Hilary made a turn at the end of the runway and Kai made his own casual turn to the right. Halfway down the row of seats, Hiro Granger sat with his head down, disregarding Hilary in favor of taking a call on his cell phone. Kai raised a brow, his eyes shifting to Tyson who sat at his right.

Tyson was leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees and hands clasped. His expression was a mix of longing and regret as his gaze moved from Hilary to the floor between his feet. Julia had been so wrong when she'd accused Tyson of his missing Hilary having only been an act. Kai could feel his friend's pain.

"Our next model, Judy Tate, holds the proverbial reins of fashion's rising empire and rides onto the scene wearing white pants with long lean lines tucked into black riding boots. Her sheer white blouse is strategically striped with ribbons of winner's circle satin. At her waist hangs a belt buckle styled to look like a silver stirrup, and a silver horseshoe bracelet adds the finishing touch of equestrian class."

Kai had to admit- Judy looked stunning. Sophisticated, and elegant. Which made perfect sense, being that she was a CEO. Again Max sat of the edge of his seat, beaming up at his mother in admiration. It was easy to tell they had a close bond. And then there was Judy's husband. It looked like invisible chains were the only things keeping him from throwing Judy over his shoulder and heading for the closest closet. All fighting over their future grandchild aside, Taro still loved his wife deeply.

In his peripheral vision, Kai registered Emily walking down the runway, wearing chunky black-and-white stripes in what the new Mrs. Sumeragi described as Soho and Op Art in a mod world. But what had drawn Kai's attention back to the stage was Julia. Almost immediate, he forgot that anyone else was in the room.

"Julia Fernandez's savvy finesse modernizes the hippie-chick with wispy gypsy layers of a cotton gauze paisley in colors of deep green and red. A peasant blouse with shirred sleeves and a matching multiwrap skirt give a dreamy, carefree feel to the ensemble. Silver and garnet drop earrings, stacks of silver bangles and a flower choker in the same paisley print complete the look."

Kai's gaze tracked Julia's performance as she made her way down the runway. She twirled and posed. She held out her arms, showing off the cut and the transparency of her blouse. She lifted the hem of her skirt and kicked out in a mini cancan. She waved to the audience members, blowing flirtatious kisses. The other 'models' had done similar routines, firing up the crowd for the unorthodox fashion show that epitomized the firm's individualistic style. Kai just hadn't followed every step of the other acts the way he was following Julia's.

Which was why he was watching when she looked down from the runway and into his eyes. And why, when she crooked a finger his waym caught the tip of her tongue between her teeth and smiled, that Kai felt like he'd been sucker-punched in the very worst way, because he didn't know where she was coming from. Maybe this come-on was a payback for his over-the-phone confession. Or maybe this was a public demonstration of their exclusive arrangement, less for his benefit than for the rest of the room.

Whatever it was, she had him. She so had him.

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DCM


	19. She Just Couldn't

A/N: I'm determined to finish this story. I have a lot of fun writing it. That said, there is only one more chapter left after this. I'm in my family year of college so my time is limited. It may take some time, but I will finish this!

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"You know, Kai. This getting me into your bedroom to show me something business is hardly very original." Climbing the stairs to the second floor of Kai's house, Julia reached up to take off the choker she'd worn for her modeling stint in the fashion show. She was unaccountably edgy, wondering what Kai had on his mind, and the choker was, well, choking her. "All you had to say was that you'd changed your mind about sleeping with me again."

"I haven't." Kai's response was curt and fiery. He reached pasted her head and planted his palm on the bedroom door. "Don't take that off."

Her clutch purse tucked beneath one arm, Julia's hands stilled on the choker's fastener. She looked up into Kai's eyes. He was hovering in her space. She waited for him to push the door open, uncertain, if pressed, whether she'd be able to remember what he'd just said. He was so close; she could see the ember flecks in his eyes. He had one brow lifted; yet his expression as a while remained unreadable. Her anticipation was heightened.

When he shoved the door open, she diverted her eyes. She missed their intimacy. She hated to admit it, Especially after the way he'd so audaciously turned her down after the party. It wasn't only the sex she missed, even if it had been over three weeks since he'd blown her mind in the kitchen.

She missed Kai.

She missed the teasing and the taunting, the playful bantering, the serious heart-to-hearts, and being able to talk to him about anything. She missed the way he'd yank the car door open for her before she got a chance to do it for herself. She missed his phone calls even though he wasn't much of a talker. He was the first one she wanted to tell when she had news to share. What they shared was so much more than lust. It was so much more than friendship.

But she couldn't admit it was love. She wasn't sure she was ready to give up that much of herself.

Kai closed the bedroom door, and leaned back against it. His hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks, his pleated tuxedo shirt was unbuttoned at the throat. Where in the hell had his tie gone? Julia no longer knew what she wanted where Kai was concerned. He had her so confused… and so terribly frightened that she would never be able to meet his expectations. Like she hadn't been able to meet her father's. What would she do if she tried and then failed?

She wasn't going to deal with a broken heart.

And if he hadn't changed his mind about sleep with her, why had he swept her up and away after the fashion show even before she had a chance to change back into her own clothes? What could he possibly want? She stopped in the centre of his room and turned to wait. "You mean there really is something in here you want to show me?"

He nodded, so she circled through the entire room, but didn't notice anything extraordinary. She turned and perched on the side of the bed, looking up at Kai, who still leaned against the door. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look so relaxed. Or more sure of himself. Okay, maybe that wasn't exactly true. This was egocentric Kai Hiwatari after all. A shiver ran up the length of her spine. "You're going to have to point it out to me then, Sugar. I'm obviously too dense to figure it out on my own."

Kai pushed away from the door and straightened. Hands still in his pockets, he made his way towards the bed. Towards her. Suddenly, the room didn't seem big enough for the both of them. One minutes, Julia's excitement simmered, the next it seethed. Even the tips of her fingers tingled and wrapped around the clasp of her purse. He didn't stop when they bumped shins. He continued forward, giving Julia no choice but to scoot back into the centre of the bed. He climbed on top, bracketing her thighs with his knees. His hands held his weight on either side of her head, forcing her flat onto her back.

"You're lying to one of us, Sugar." He recognized the nickname now as a trigger for coping with stress. "If this isn't about sex, the only thing I cant think you might want me to see is your ceiling." She couldn't believe that was her voice sounding so breathless. She clenched her firsts around the purse to keep them from trembling.

"I'm not lying." Still curt with his responses, Kai lowered his body, bracing his weight on his forearms and elbows. He stretched out his legs along either side of hers. It was the mesmerizing intensity brightening in his eyes that stirred both Julia's interested and her uncertainty. Kai's head dipped to kiss the sensitive skin beneath her ear. "I'm going to show you what it means to make love."

She could barely swallow past the lump of emotion balled tight in her throat. She was shuddering from the inside out. Her bones, her muscles, her skin; no part of her failed to respond to his words. "Then I was right!" She shot back, but her voice was strained. "You do want to sleep with me!"

"You won't give an inch." He moved his lips to the corner of her eyelid and lightly kissed her brow and lashes. His lips quickly moved along her jaw to her chin. He toyed with the choker, his finger teasing beneath the fabric band. "I want to love you."

"Sure thing Kai, whatever floats your boat." What was she supposed to say? Admit the defence mechanism kept her from getting to clove to anyone? Kept her heart safe? Kept him from controlling any part of her life? Julia couldn't tell what he was thinking. She hated that she couldn't. He had a smirk on his face, but still his expression seemed pensive. Shouldn't she be able by now to better tell what was on his mind?

Kai sat back on his heels, braced his hands on his thighs for a thoughtful moment before he went to work on the studs of his shirt. "Julia." He shrugged out of his tuxedo coat and pitched it to the floor. His shirt hung open, exposing the muscles of his abdomen, and the trail of bluish hair that disappeared down into his pants.

Julia swallowed hard when he moved to undo his cuffs. She felt tiny, feminine, and on the verge of losing an internal battle. "Dammit Kai! What now? What are you expecting from me?!"

"Nothing." Answers were never as simple as they sounded when it came to Kai. "I gave up expecting anything from others when I was thirteen. Up until then I still expected my father would remember he had a son." He tossed his shirt to the floor and loomed above her. Julia could clearly see the faint scars littering his shoulders. The rest were hidden on his back. Her eyes widened. Kai caught where her gaze had landed. "Reminders of the time spent living with my grandfather."

Kai's hands moved to the fastener on his pants. Julia was torn between watching his agile fingers and waiting for him to put what he'd just told her into an understandable context. Her mind was spilling out of control. "Kai wait!" She raised a hand, then scooted from beneath him and up towards the headboard. "Why in the fuck are you telling me this now, in your damned bed?!"

He showed less interest in her confusion or answering her question than he showed in her feet. He'd moved them into his lap and made quick work of removing her stilettos. "No expectations, that's all." He reminded her.

"That's bullshit Kai! And you know it!"

"We are not our pasts." His large hands closed around her ankles, forcing her to still for a moment and just reflect on what he had said. "I love you for who you are."

She turned her head to the side. Those dark eyes of his were too much to bear. "You don't love me."

He silently placed the soles of he feet flat on his thighs, and began to work her stockings down and bared both slender legs. His hands were warm, his touch incredibly distracting. "I love your ambition. I love your loyalty. I love your energy. I love how you make me want to strangle you. I love how you make me want to be a better man. I love you, Julia."

She dared to look into those haunting eyes. What she saw there made the shell surrounding her heart finally shatter. "Kai, I-I can't, I-"

"No more talking." He cut her off, lowering her leg back to the bed. His hands when to the tie holding her wrap shirt closed at the waist. He pulled the ends of the tie, separating the skirt's layers of gauzy material until she lay beneath him bared to the waist.

Julia silently damned MingMing for daring her not to wear underwear tonight. She damned herself for being stupid enough to listen to her. She couldn't hide from him any longer, including the vulnerability seeping in as he scrutinized her barely clad body. "Kai… Kai, I'm scared." She could stop her body from trembling. None of her hard-hitting attitudes were going to save her now.

"I know." Was his only response. When he shifted on the bed, when he leaned forward and kissed the skin of her stomach above her naval, Julia had to squeeze her eyes tightly shut to hold back the tears. Kai pushed her blouse up over her breasts, and ran his tongue along the lace of her bra before taking one nipple into his mouth through the fabric.

Julia arched upward, pressing her head back into the pillow and lifting her chin as Kai sucked hard. She wanted to tug down the cups of her bra, to free her breasts and guide his head to her naked skin. But she kept her hands where they were, on either side of her head. One hand still clutched her purse. She couldn't believe she was still holding the damned purse! She tossed it to the floor, and buried her hands beneath the pillows. She was relinquishing control. No, he was demanding she did. She had to surrender her mind, her body… her heart. She started to tense, but Kai was now urging her up and pulling her blouse over her head. She couldn't think anymore. She was seconds away from falling apart.

Kai tossed her blouse after the purse before he lowered her back to the bed. He rid her of the choker and bra, both going the way the rest of her clothing had. Her nipple had already peaked with arousal when he drew it back into his mouth. He rolled the nipple with his tongue, drawing her flesh between his teeth to nip, suck, and kiss at her skin. He moved his mouth to her breastbone, then kissed his wait down her body.

By the time his mouth reached her thigh, Kai had opened her legs with his hand. He teased the lips and mouth of her sex with his tongue. His attention was mind-numbingly gentle, infuriatingly so. Julia had never known the arousal of wanting, of hovering at the edge of completion, of being pulled back and dangling, unmercifully, above orgasm's precipice. She was used to barring head first into everything, of taking and roughness. Kai was showering her pleasure's torture, how much sweet suffering her body could take. It was all the sweeter because Kai was doing it.

Suddenly, he stood and shucked off his tuxedo pants and boxers. This left them both open and rawly exposed. He moved forward then, one knee on the bed, then the second, slowly sliding up the comforter and between her legs. And they he leaned down and tasted her. He flicked the tip of his tongue over her entrance, pushing against her hard centre of nerves with his tongue. Julia clenched her fingers into the comforter. Her inner muscles clenched in a desperate attempt from coming in his mouth.

When Kai spread over open with two fingers and pushed his tongue inside, Julia cried out loudly. "Oh Kai!" She panted, pointed her toes, flexed her thigh muscles and trembled. He made love to her with his tongue, stroking deep, withdrawing, licking between the folds of her flesh wildly, she though she would burst. "Please…"

"Please what, Julia?" He lapped at her again, smirking when she shuddered.

Her head thrashed back onto the pillowed. "I want you! I want you to fuc-…. I want you to make love to me!"

"I am, Julia." He replaced his tongue with a finger, then two fingers, three. He kissed her clitoris, sucked it into his mouth, then made his way up her body to bury his face in the juncture of her neck.

She moved one free hand between their bodies, reaching as far as she could until she touched the head of his throbbing member. "This is what I want." She slipped her hand down the length of hi shaft, so sleek, so smooth, so incredibly, solidly strong. "I want you Kai, only you…"

Kai pulled in a strangled breath. When he kissed her, she tasted herself, her salty sweet flavour mingling with his. He reached down, and in one smoothly controlled thrust, he filled her. He pressed forward, pulled back, setting a rhythm she matched with a measured lift of her hips.

It was the sweetest of matings, the gentlest loving Julia and ever known. Kai took his time, patiently holding himself in check and Julia's fever grew. She dig her fingers into his tight buttock, pulling him into hard contact when he insisted on a soft touch, urging him to press forward when he was content with an easy rolling pace. So when the first jolt spiked through her, she wasn't prepared. She was used to widely reaching, not having completion unexpectedly steal her breath. Spasms rolled like waves, one right after the other, drowning her in liquid pleasure until she was gasping and spent.

Kai buried his face in the curve of her shoulder, his thrusts increasing in strength and speed. Julia followed him as he climbed towards release. He cried out, the sound muffled by her shoulder. Nothing muffled her sob when she came so suddenly again.

Together, their bodies rested, comfortably joined while her head was still spinning. Julia was faintly aware of an unfamiliar heated sensation deep inside her, but then Kai drew her close, working them both beneath the covers. Julia heard him whisper "I love you," before he drifted into a deep sleep.

Julia waited for his breath to even out before slipping out of his bed. He would be hurt when he woke up alone. The thought of causing him pain after he'd shown her such joy squeezed a tiny moan from her throat.

More than anything in the world, she wished she could stay, wished she could return Kai's love.

But She couldn't.

She just could.

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Okay guys, one more chapter left! Tell me what you think could happen? I curious as to what my readers have thought of this story so far.


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